Breaking the Mold
by Daemon McRae
Summary: Sequel to Pave Your Own Road. It's been a year since the death of a Titan, and now someone has decided to use their memories of their friend against them. A few canon slashes, and some OCs. Rated M for lang, slasher, and "other stuff." DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

Hey, hey! Check it out, we made it to book two! Freaking zetta awesome! So now we get to see a "new" villain take the titans on, as well as see the world from his point of view. This is a story that you can read by itself without prior knowledge, of course you'll be greatly confused in some parts, and will need to read book one to understand them, but you are still fully physically capable of reading this book without prior help! Or are you? Also, this book will have a great deal more author notes than the previous book, because I feel like it. So enjoy! Also, for those who have read the first book, the writing style in this one may seem to have changed a bit, maybe drastically to some, but I can assure you it is still the same person. Just trying to find my groove, people.

**Breaking the Mold**

**Chapter 1**

Jump City is a place just like any other, with citizens, stores, an economy, streets and buildings, museums, a movieplex, and superheroes. Wait a minute....

The Teen Titans had made their names known well around the city, and slowly, across the country, and the world, they were building a reputation as a force to be reckoned with, second only to the Justice League. They had acquired members from all over the world, with assortments of powers and abilities, social connections and teamwork skills, training and, well, just being overall badasses. Most of them. Some heroes still had a long way to go before they could be taken seriously, or learn to control their powers completely.

The focus of this now-worldwide organization is Titans West, located in the aforementioned Jump City. Actually, just outside Jump City, on a small island. In a giant letter T. Like I said, they had a long way to go. The tower itself is actually an impressive structure, several stories tall, with a full view of the city, and a great deal of high-end security, to keep the riff-raff out. And the stalkers. And, in some small instances, Beast Boy.

At this current point in time, however, the Titans are nowhere near their beloved home. As a matter of fact, they are currently chasing down a notorious thief-for-hire named Red-X, as he makes his way across the city with a large cache of stolen computer software and data in the depths of the night. Racing through the darkened streets of Jump on his X-Cycle (AN: You come up with a better name.), with Robin and his team of heroes in hot pursuit. "Give it up, X! You're not getting away with the chips!" The hero valiantly yelled, attempting to intimidate the masked rogue as they banked a corner into oncoming freeway traffic. The two cycles bobbed and weaved between the cars, before X reared back his front wheel, and used the cab of a semi to propel himself into the air, yelling back his retort: "Just because you can follow, doesn't mean you can catch, kid!"

He came down over the side of the freeway, which at this point had progressed into a many-story drop. Robin screeched to a halt at the edge of the overpass, and dismounted his bike. Removing his helmet and leaning over the edge, he saw nothing but a ripple in the water below. Punching his fist into his hand and grunting in frustration, he growled to noone in particular, as the rest of the team caught up and took their places standing behind him: "I can't believe he got away again! How does he keep disappearing like that?! It's almost as if he can teleport or something, just like-" He cut himself short, now aware of his team standing around him. Surveying their expressions, he saw weak looks of remorse and sentiment, most likely recalling memories of their lost comrade.

About a year ago, they had lost a teammate named Jack Rapid, Reflex to some, to a merciless villain named Slade. He had given his life to save the lives and minds of people he had cared about, and served with. He, along with his own makeshift team, had assisted the Titans in their pursuit of the criminal and his allies for almost a year and a half. Thanks to his efforts, both the Riddler and Slade had been sent to Arkham Asylum, and had stayed there for a better part of a year. Jack Rapid's ability to teleport had allowed him to completely transport an explosion of Polar energy into the atmosphere, allowing it to reach maximum capacity without causing any structural damage to person or property. Doing so had cost him his life, the force of his teleportation abilities in conjunction with several psychological pressures had caused his abilities to rend his body apart.

The memory of the lost Titan still caused them pain, but served as a constant reminder of the real dangers they faced everyday. Thus, any mention of him seemed to serve as a great way to bring a hero down to earth. Or totally kill a party mood.

"Dude, he's no just going to jump out of the water at us, let's go home," moaned Beast By, easily exhausted from being out all night chasing the mysterious vagabond.

"You're right, Beast Boy. Let's try to see where his next target is, we know what he stole, let's see who he's selling to," said the Boy Wonder.

"Please, can we not go home and rest Our search may continue in the morning, dear Robin," pleaded Starfire, the alien princess whose relationship with their leader had much matured in the last few months. It was for this reason that Robin conceded; he didn't feel any desire to argue his case, and was just as tired as the rest of them.

"Alright, Star, let's go home. We could all use some rest."

Behind them, Cyborg and Raven held their own conversation.

"At least she's been able to keep him calm," Cyborg argued. He and Raven had been debating whether or not Robin's tendencies to give in to his girlfriend's request were doing more harm than good.

"That is true, but it doesn't mean he has to give her everything she asks. He's good enough at what he does to make his own decisions. Fortunately for him, she hasn't made any decisions for him that would cause any overt problems; we could ALL use some rest right now," Raven made her point well, punctuated by the fact that both Beast Boy and Starfire were asleep in the back of the T-Car, and Robin looked ready to conk out before he reached his vehicle. Raven and Cyborg were also feeling the strain of sleep deprivation, having chased Red X until three in the morning. Cyborg took the wheel, plugging himself into the reserve battery in the car to keep himself awake long enough to drive home, and Raven began meditating in the passenger seat.

As they drove away, a young, pale-haired man stepped out of the shadows into the dim lighting of a streetlamp. None of the Titans had been awake or focused enough to notice his presence. It helped that his black outfit allowed him to blend well into the shade of night. "So, their memory has yet to fade. They still remember their scars. It's good to see that they have learned from their past. Now let's see if they've learned enough to face it again. But first, I'm going to have a little chat with a certain master thief," he added, cracking his knuckles. "Red X, we haven't met face to face, and if all goes well, that will be remedied very quickly."

Red X stepped out of the shadows into the supposedly empty warehouse, and declared his presence. "I have the goods, now where's the green?"

Out of the darkness behind the pillars, several well-dressed, and even more well-armed, men bade themselves visible throughout the facility, brandishing their semi-automatic weapons at the rogue. A stately old man walked out into the open, a confidence in his men radiating as he looked Red X up and down. "Well, young man, I did not think you would show. It does an old man's heart good to see that even the new generation has some respect for timeliness."

"That's all well and good, old man, but I simply see it as getting my money when I'm due."

The gentleman, an aged Japanese man in a well-tailored business suit, appraised the black-clad thief with a glance, and laughed appreciatively. "Ah, yes, there is something to be said for the callous energy of the young. Very well!" he snapped his fingers, and a veritable tank of a henchman stepped forth with a large steel briefcase, setting it equidistant away from his employer and the young thief. Afterward, Red X set his case next to it, and took a step back. However, as the larger man made his way to the cases, another young man clad in black and red made his appearance next to both cases, took one in each hand, and vanished just as quickly as he had gone.

Red X blinked a few times. Then he blinked some more. Then, underneath his mask, his eyebrow began to twitch violently. "What the HELL was that?!" Then he heard the cocking of several guns, as many hammers fell into place. The old man looked absolutely livid.

"I was hoping you could tell me," he growled.

Outside of the warehouse, The windows came alive with flashes of gunfire, as a chorus of bullets rang out into the night.

Red X appeared atop an apartment building roof. He pounded his fist into the wall of the stairwell, gasping for breath. "What in god's name? Who does that guy think he is, making off with my deal?! He nearly got me killed, and now every Yakuza on the West Coast will be after my head!"

"And they'll have it, sitting next to their morning newspaper, if you decide not to cooperate," said a voice behind him, twisted in a way that X couldn't put his finger on. He spun around to see a peculiar individual behind him. Peculiar, in that he was unable to determine whether or not he was a hero or a villain. His costume suggested villain: a black suit with red stripes on the arms and legs, and heavy welder's goggles with red frames across his forehead.. Metal-scaled gloves and boots matched his plated belt and collar. Stark white hair that flowed over his shoulders and stark red eyes seemed to lend a certain flair to his costume. His demeanor, sans the disturbing voice, indicated a hero: he held himself well, slight muscle movements suggesting martial arts discipline. His facial expressions and body language hinted at a military background, with a stern look on his face and a rigid pose.

His voice, however, left Red X slightly on edge. It sounded as though he were trying to speak for several people at once. Not that several voices came at once, but as if with each sentence he were arguing with himself mentally over whether or not that was what he wanted to say, while he was saying it. His eyes also led to this conclusion, they flitted about randomly, focusing on different things all around him at various times, almost like a nervous twitch. He didn't appear as though he had any trouble focusing, his entire poise and manner seemed as though it were _aimed _at X.

He hadn't really come across anyone like this before, but he felt it was nothing he couldn't handle. After all, he had tied with Robin himself... and he was just toying with him at the time. He didn't think this guy would be that much of a problem. "So, what makes you think that you can threaten me?"

"I felt like it. I'm not really interested in you getting killed. I actually want to form a business relationship. And besides, the Yakuza don't actually want to kill you. After you left, I made another appearance and dropped off their case. The man in charge seemed to be highly amused by me running off with your stuff just to chance you out of the room. I told him it was my idea. He seems to be a very forgiving person, and actually looks forward to doing future business with you. Your case is actually right inside the stairwell."

Red-X blinked at the man, and checked the stairwell. Sure enough, the case stood undamaged, and he could detect no signs of tampering. "Well, kid, it looks like you have some skills. So what kind of business were you thinking?"

"I figured we could work something out, maybe mid-to-long term. You have some equipment that I need to make use of, mainly some energy essentials, and some of the circuitry you use to keep that suit of yours going. I don't intend to take the suit, no, you're probably much better with it than I am. And besides," he said, tapping his wrist, "I have my own suit to work with. My main problem is power. My power cells seemed to have run low, and I'm not very good with technology myself. The way I got it figured, you either have the know-how, or someone who does, and if this works out, I could get them to adapt the Zenothium as a power source for the suit. I can't really go back and ask for more power cells."

Red X was intrigued at this point, "So what do you think you can do for me?"

"Well, I can't really say this offer isn't completely selfish, but, how about the Titans?"

The sun had arisen a few hours ago, and the tower was bustling with the usual activities. Robin and Starfire were making breakfast together, he having decided to share what knowledge he had in culinary arts with his alien girlfriend, Cyborg and Beast Boy taking to the latest addition to their video game collection. Raven had taken the initiative to go outside and check the mail, if only to escape the needless ramblings of the green bean and tin man as they yelled at the top of their voices at the screen, and the insufferable mush that oozed out of the kitchen, which even the most inempathic individual would be able to perceive, if not drown in. Being an empath, Raven had made a speedy retreat. Had she not, Happy and Love would have run rampant within her Nevermore, wreaking havoc on her powers.

She took a quiet stroll along the rocky path that led from their front door to the mail drop location at the edge of the island. Lost in thought, she took the quiet opportunity to take a rare stroll down memory lane. She recalled how, within the last year, much had changed outside their tower, and a little within, as well. After their mission with Slade, Jinx had gone to join the Young Guardians, who had appointed Siphon as their leader. Gothica, Reflex's adoring fan, who had already proven to be psychologically unstable, was diagnosed with full-blown schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder, and was consequently committed to a psychiatric ward upstate. Her powers had yet to manifest themselves, although that seemed to be the primary concern amongst the Young Guardian members. Nobody was talking, though.

Titans East had reassembled like normal, with a couple of additions: Obsidiant had decided to take a shot at the "whole being a hero thing" as he put it, and had been with East since. Terra had also decided to take up residence at Tower East; her past with Beast Boy, and generally low involvement level with the team, had driven her to find a group she could connect with better. The last Raven heard, she and Aqualad had been dancing around each other.

Raven herself had also made some changes. She and Beast Boy had made an attempt at dating since before Reflex's death, but had discovered within the last year that they were just too different. Despite what most people think when it comes to the old "opposites attract" adage, most of the time, it's better to stick with your own. But she had learned throughout the experience, and since, that Trigon's absence had indeed freed her of one or two of her emotional restraints. She was still prone to outbursts, and had a tendency to break things with her mind when pushed far enough, but it was happening less and less.

She had reached the maildrop point, and noticed two things: one, ther was a great deal of mail this week, which took her a moment to process, at which point she realized it was early December, and most of these were probably Christmas cards. She reminded herself that this had been another alterior motive for fetching the mail: she could use this as an excuse to not have to make the necessary run for Christmas gifts from fans later on.

The second was that there seemed to be a larger than normal white envelope with the words "To Some Old Friends" in large red letters across the front. She assumed that this wasn't a good thing, and took the envelope inside.

"Raven, what is that?" Beast Boy asked as Raven dropped the large stack of letters on the table, the mysterious envelope still in her hand.

"Probably a trap," she answered, passing it off to Cyborg. "Please scan this." She sat down on the couch and pulled a book out of her robe, sitting in her usual spot to read. Cyborg gave her a sidelong glance, and placed it in a drawer next to the mainframe computer. It closed automatically, and a large number of displays appeared on the screen.

"Scan says it's normal," Cyborg reported. "Just a normal envelope. Even the writing on the front is normal typefont." He sighed, picked up the envelope out of the drawer, and layed it on the table. "There aren't even any fingerprints."

Robin studied the mysterious parcel for a moment. "Well, the only way to know what it is is to open it." They all stared at him. "It's the truth."

Beast Boy looked at it tensely. "Man, the last time we got weird mail, we turned into puppets, dude. I'm not opening it."

Cyborg waved his hands defensively. "Neither am I."

Starfire stared at it quizzically. "I am not sure whether or not I wish to know of it's contents. Please, Robin, open it for us."

Robin gave her a look, then proceeded to cut open a side of the envelope. Cyborg then gave a distinct cough that sounded remarkably like "whipped." Robin glared at him, but removed the contents without a word. That is, until he read the letter.

"Is this someone's sick idea of a joke?!" He yelled, slamming the paper down on the table. Starfire leaned in to read it, and as she proceeded, her face paled. By the end of the note, her hand was clapped over her mouth, and she looked near to tears.

Beast Boy snatched it up, read through it thoroughly, and handed it off to Cyborg. "That's just sick, man." Cyborg had a similar reaction, and was on the verge of crushing the paper in his hands, until Raven snatched it from his grasp. She read through the letter calmly, until she reached the end. She seemed to grow paler, then redden greatly. By the last word, she was livid. She gently set the paper down on the table, and looked up at the rest of the team.

"One thing is clear. Someone is trying to mess with us. And we _cannot_ let it get to us. SO we are going to do everything we can to track this person down, and reach whatever closure we need. Because Beast Boy is right, this is just _sick_." The rest of the members nodded, and set about whatever tasks they thought helpful in tracking the letter's origin.

On the table, the letter sat innocently, reading as follows:

_Dear Titans,_

_ Sorry about missing our anniversary, guys, but some important business decided to rear it's ugly head at the last minute, so I had to take care of that._

_ Regardless, can't wait to see you guys again, I'm so excited. What's it been, like a year? Time freaking flies, man. Just wanted to let you know that I was thinking about you, so here's a few words from each of you:_

_ Beast Boy, hey, how've you been? I heard you and Raven broke up, that's gotta suck. And I spent so much time trying to get you two together, too. But hey, at least you don't have to deal with that Blonde Judas anymore, right?_

_ Cyborg: Hey dude, never thanked you properly for the goggles and the power pack. Thought I should take a moment to let you know how greatful I am. Could never have made it to the military base in time without you. I owe you _a lot.

_Robin: What's up, traffic light? How's the new girlfriend? Hey, just so you know, if you're ever up for a rematch, I'll take you on!_

_ Starfire: Congrats on finally starting your relationship on full steam with Tweety! It took you guys long enough, but I'm still happy for you. And thank you so much for the therapy it really meant a lot! Nothing like a good Tameranian Bear hug._

_ Raven: How's my favorite little emo kid doing? Hey, now that you and Beast Boy aren't dating, you want to give you and me a try? *_winkwink* _Serously though, I always did like you. Just give me my cd's back._

_ Great to finally get in touch with you all!_

_ Love,_

_ Reflex_

_ P.S. I hope you enjoyed my letter, because when I actually _do_ see you all again, I'm killing each of you slowly. Later, much!_

_ P.S.S. Except Raven. She might live. Or at least die quickly._

Above the tower, the man in black and red stood by himself, in the middle of the T emblem emblazoned on the roof, and laughed silently to himself. "It's always too easy, my friends. And it's about to become a lot more fun."

Author's note: So what'd you think? Too much? Too little? R&R, I'd like more feedback on this one than I got on the last story. And make suggestions if you feel like it! I took some of them into account and used some ideas from reviews for my last story, so don't worry, I won't blow you off. Entirely.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Well, people, thanks for making it this far, if you did. If you haven't then you obviously aren't reading this, and it doesn't pertain to you, so nyaahh. I apologize if updates take awhile, but it's really cold right now, and it's really hard to type when your fingers move like frozen molasses. But anyway, when we last left off, the Titans had received a very disturbing letter, sent by a very disturbed person. Let's have some more fun with them, what do you think?

I feel I should warn you now, a chunk of this fanfiction is going to be dedicated to messing with the titans. Enjoy.

**Chapter 2**

Getting into the Titan's heads was easier than he thought. Of course, he had not bothered to take an estimate of the impact a letter from a "dead" friend would have. He was enjoying watching them struggle with the information, albeit a little off-put that they had assumed it was from some callous third party, trying to play mind games with them. He would need to rectify that, and soon. But for now, he sat back with a bag of popcorn, his goggles tuned into the video feeds of the Tower, watching them "deal." The popcorn was greatly warranted.

Robin's first action upon receiving the letter was a full chemical analysis of the paper and envelope, hopefully to determine the letter's origin. He had to laugh at this, of course; the first ting he and Red-X had worked on together was crafting the untraceable letter. Cyborg had gone straight for the cameras posted outside the Tower as security. This also brought a chuckle from the antagonist. After Months of training his "new" abilities, he had figured out how to flicker from one place to the next almost instantaneously; if Cyborg thought to slow it down to a play-by-play, all he would see would be a white flicker of an outline of a tall person; he hadn't even had to fully reappear their to drop the letter. He'd practiced this maneuver beforehand, though. He didn't want to assume he'd get it right on the first try. Arrogance was the Boy Wonder's area of expertise.

Raven had the greatest chance of finding him, and he hoped she did. He could only imagine what the chaos of his mind would do to her. Although, he also slightly hoped she didn't; he wanted her intact for later. At the thought of the young empath, his mind raged: many-faceted voices roared their opinion of the young cambion, some demanding her head on a stick for being one of those that had abandoned him, some demanding her body as a toy, voices of raw lust burning with unbridaled desire at the fine young woman. Others still screamed to leave them alone, all of them, just to have a moment's peace. These voices were quelled quietly. By his main consciousness, nonetheless.

He not only bore witness to the events of the tower, he also played audience to his own mind. For he was not one to suffer his insanity; on the contrary, as the popular adage goes, he enjoyed every fecking minute of it. It was as if he had stumbled into a chat room filled with all the aspects of himself he had not known existed. It was even better when he visited his own mind through his mirror, a place he had dubbed Telltale, in honor of the girl who had helped him craft it, and the author who had inspired her Nevermore. He felt it more than appropriate, for the role he now played; a silent accuser, making his presence known only to those who were truly at fault, as per the heart beneath the old man's floorboards. (A/N: For those of you who do not understand this reference, read The Telltale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe, it's my favorite story of his. It's freaking creepy-awesome.)

He thought momentarily about taking a short trip to the city in his mind, but thought better of it. He needed to be wary, lest someone came within line of sight of him, or he missed an important detail in the tower. He then remembered his initial attentions focusing on the Titans, his mind ever-prone to wander on whatever tangent he came across, and decided to check on Starfire. The sadistic edges of his psyche were not disappointed: she laid across her bed, crying soulfully into her sheets, her orange skin slightly paled throughout. After a minute or so, he became bored with it, and decided to check in on Beast Boy, saving Raven for last.

Beast Boy's reaction bode well, for himself at least. The green teen had paled considerably more than Starfire had, but for different reasons; he currently took post over the bathroom sink, releasing the contents of his stomach into the toilet adjacent whenever necessary. Apparently death and reanimation were no joke to the changeling. The man laughed quietly to himself at the spectacle, then took a breath and steadied his reactions before checking in on Raven: he had a special idea for her.

Raven sat on her bed, meditating with little success, trying to quell the emotions that roared within her, her mirror sitting before her on the sheets.

Nevermore was in an uproar. Rage's imprisoning shackles had been transported, along with herself, to the corner of the counsel room Raven's aspects now occupied. She screamed and bellowed for blood at the insult against the memory of an ally; Bravery stood beside her, both as guard and supporter. She also wished to take a large chunk out of the potential offender.

Knowledge and Wisdom calmly, but sternly, demanded answers to the questions coursing through Raven's mind like so many stampeding predators, all contesting for the same invaluable prize. Happy was not present; she currently lay unconscious in her own realm, having no place in Raven's mind or heart at present. Love stood by idly, weakly, as she watched the rest of her being cry in war-torn anguish against the offending letter, and he who held it's pen. She had a lace for one reason: to serve as the calm memory of the bond of friendship that had made an impact on Raven's life. Other emotions also had their say, and their presence, but none spoke so loudly as Rage herself.

Raven stood at the forefront of the turmoil, keeping a wary eye at the red-clad aspect. The last thing she needed was for the strongest of her emotions to be let loose now of all times. "Silence!" she screamed, and most of the aspects quelled, taking their place and watching silently as the commanding mental presence of their owner made itself heard. "I understand the current position, truly I do. But I can do nothing to track the offender down if none of you SHUT YOUR MOUTHS! Do you have _any_ idea how hard it is to focus on one simple task like a tracking spell while you guys are wreaking havoc in my subconscious?! Look, I know how to find him; Cyborg has already figured out through the security cameras that whoever left it used powers to do so, so all I have to do is trace the psychic signal of the paper to it's writer, then we'll have our vengeance," she added with some finality; her mind and heart roared with approval at this statement. Even Rage voiced her agreement, albeit with a few choice expletives.

She took a moment to address each emotion in turn, resolving individual issues she'd rather not be interrupted with later. After some time, discussion, and migraine reduction, she returned to her own consciousness-

-Only to see a somewhat familiar figure standing in her room. She leapt up and took a battle stance almost instantly, then stared down the intruder. Stark recognition blazed in her eyes as they widened, and she stammered out a single question: "R-Reflex?!" At second glance though, she wasn't sure. His suit looked almost the same, with some modifications, but his face was nothing alike. Stark white hair flowed to his shoulders, blazing red eyes almost twitching in their sockets. A wild grin played on his face, giving him an almost broken look. Then the atrocity of his mind reached her.

It was like a small, fractured abyss had opened up before her, shards of broken glass raining in all directions, each with it's own voice. She felt herself in a torrential maze of conflicting emotions and personalities, all completely separate and almost, _interacting_ with each other. Loving, tender voices cooed their conversations with psychotic ramblings, raging hatred blazed obscenities, which rung in chorus with a hundred serene voices, almost a chorus of reason. Contradictions held conversation with each other, as parallels crossed and impossibilities seemed the norm. She had never faced such a broken mind, and it was certainly nothing like the mischievously analytical patterns of her fallen comrade.

She realized suddenly that she was hunched over, holding her head in her hands, and stared up at the intruder, who phased in and out of view rapidly, like a bad satellite signal, then disappeared entirely. Where he had stood, a single sheet of paper was left, white, with red ink.

_NO._

_ P.S. Tell Rage I said hi._

Nevermore rioted against itself in anguish, the previous tranquility she had worked so hard for shattered. Again, Rage spoke loudest of all.

Taking a moment to laugh at his accomplishments like so many bad jokes, the antagonist had decided to take a stroll around the city, having checked in with the heroes, to his satisfaction. Raven would need some time to recover from her encounter with him, which he had intended. He needed her, all of them, off of his trail for the time being. And pushing the one person with a hope of tracking him to her breaking point was all the insurance he needed for now.

He had finally settled on a place to eat when a large explosion wracked his ears from behind. He turned in time to see Dr. Light himself running frantically from the rear exit of a Bank with a bag of cash under each arm. And try as he might to resist the urge to destroy the now-pathetic villain (he had done his research, and knew that Dr. Light had once been a great adversary, until the Justice League had taken a piece of his mind (A/N: That's from the comics. Check if you don't believe me.)), impulse control had become a slight issue, what with being insane and all (and an unusual obsession with Hello Panda chocolate crackers. (A/N: Tasty-tasty.) His rational mind screamed that if the Titans appeared before Light was dispatched, he stood a chance of ruining his fun with them. Not his plans, just his chance to royally mess with them first. The rest of him, however, had cast it's vote, and he now subjected himself to the will of his shattered mind.

Breaking a window in a local electronics store he happened to walk past on his way to Dr. Light, who was currently dealing with the local police with little issue, he snatched a megaphone from the display, checked the compartment for batteries, and, after affirming it's functionality, broadcast over the voices of the officers telling him to freeze, "Attention, you cheap-ass BrightMan knockoff! You have approximately negative 3 seconds to surrender before I make you my first official Beatstick of the Day!" The normally disturbed voice of the madman was further distorted by the megaphone's internal workings.

The mad doctor turned to face the insulting party, and glared down the black-clad offender. "What makes you think you stand a chance against the brilliance of my light?!" he screamed, and, dropping the bags, proceeded to pour energy into his gloves, blasting a large portion of concrete, and a few cop cars, into oblivion. When the smoke cleared, he saw no sign of the man, and turned around frantically to find him again, lest he be caught by surprise. When he saw no one their, he breathed a sigh of relief, assuming he'd merely disintegrated his would-be opponent. Then he heard a voice from behind him.

"Don't blink," said a twisted voice in his ear, and he spun around to face it's owner, only to find a small party of badly injured cops making their retreat.

"I told you not to blink," said the voice again from behind him, and he had a split second to register a sharp impact at the base of his neck, before the surge of the stun gun his opponent wielded tore through his suit, setting it haywire with the overload to it's circuits. The electricity overflowed into Light, making him seize painfully and collapse on the ground. His world quickly and ironically went dark.

Taking a second to observe his handiwork, and another moment to pay thanks to Red-X for his assistance, the madman looked down over the edge of the building on which he stood to admire his craftsmanship.

"Do you really think this is necessary?" said the modified voice of X behind him. "Even I think this is a little overboard."

"You've done much more for much less, X. Don't forget what I'm giving you. The Titans on a platter are something we should both enjoy, but the considerably large sum of financial backing I'm supplying you should be enough to silence some pesky questions." His voice dripped with a sickening combination of malice and innocence, if that were possible.

"So are you saying you don't want me to ask you anything about anything you do?"

"Oh, for god sakes, no. I love questions. I love talking, it's the greatest distraction in the world. I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful for your help, and I do value your opinion. I'm merely stating my side of the argument. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, partner."

"Ok, then let me ask you this: What the hell is your name?!" Red X crossed his arms over his chest, and glared at his "partner."

The madman realized he had never actually given his new "name" to anyone. "Good question. With a good answer." He made a few adjustments to his piece, and waited quietly. He could practically hear X stewing in his suit.

"And that answer WOULD BE?!"

_Too easy, just too easy._ He stood, and turned to face his partner. Arms stretched out at his sides, bracing once again against a wind only he could feel, he answered in a voice thick with satisfaction, "Demonstreak."

The call came in to Titan's Tower at approximately 6:00 P.M.. A couple of the Titans realized the significance of this hour, and could only assume it was planned. It was the time of day Reflex had been declared legally dead. Whoever was playing this game with them, they were pushing it as far as they could go. The call itself did not seem to have any significance to it: a disturbance had been reported on the roof of Wayne Enterprise's corporate branch downtown.

It wasn't until they got there, and saw for themselves, that they realized this guy wanted to make it as personal as he could.

All of the lights had been turned off at the top of the tower, so that the large, illuminated letters spelling out the company's name were blacked out. But the disturbing part was, where the T in Enterprise had been, now hung the unconscious body of Dr. Light, illuminated by a spotlight set on the building opposite.

Robin took a moment to speak to a Sheriff's Deputy on scene. "What happened here?"

"We have no idea. We just got a call in that someone was threatening to jump off the roof of the building, and when we got here, we saw this!" He turned to yell at an officer near the building. "Someone get some more lights on up there! Turn on those letters!"

"We can't!" came the reply. "The power switch is weighted somehow, we can't get the force needed to switch it on!"

Robin didn't say anything, just made his way to the utility room where the response came from. "We can't get any of our guys to move this thing, it's stuck fast!"

Robin looked it up and down, then saw a little piece of white paper sticking out of a shelf right next to it. Fearing the worst, he took it in his hand and unfolded it.

_Hey, Robin! I'll bet you twenty bucks that you've spent so much time necking your girl that you you've gotten too out of practice to even flip a switch._

_ P.S. Merry Christmas! I hope you liked the present. You're so hard to shop for._

Robin crunched up the paper in his hand, and stuffed it in his pocket to analyze later, although he was certain nothing would turn up. He growled under his breath, then screamed as he kicked the switch open.

Outside, he heard a large explosion, and a cacophony of screams. He rushed back into the street, up to his teammates, and shouted, "What happened, what's wrong?!" They all stared at him pale-faced, then Cyborg motioned to the ground in front of the building. Robin spun around and saw for himself the body of Dr. Light, charred and mangled on the street before him.

It didn't take long for him to piece it together. The lights at the top of the tower had been rigged to supply power to a bomb that was rigged to Dr. Light's suit, so that if the power was restored, the explosion would take him out for good. And if the blast didn't kill him, the twenty-story drop would. It did take a bit longer for Robin to piece together one vital point of information: in a blind rage, he had done what Batman made him swear he would never do. By accident or not, the blood of another person was now on his hands. Robin had killed a villain.

The Boy Wonder was nigh-inconsolable. Each member of the team had taken their turn at trying to convince Robin that "it wasn't his fault" or "there was no way he could have known." But they each knew the truth. Had Robin taken even a moment to think about the situation, had sent someone up to retrieve Dr. Light, or done any analysis at all of the scene, he could have saved the mad doctor's life. Through his own carelessness, he had killed someone.

Starfire and Raven served as the only solace he could find. Cyborg really had no words for the situation, instead giving up quickly and heading for his room. Beast Boy's jokes made no impact, save for angering the others. He had decided to join Cyborg.

Starfire, if at a lack of words, made a good shoulder to cry on. Robin, however, wouldn't let himself cry over this, instead, he found comfort in her just being there, standing by him despite what he'd done. He leaned into his shoulder, not really paying attention but allowing Raven's voice of reason to flow over him, absorbing some things and plainly ignoring others.

"Look, Robin, you cannot blame yourself for this. This trap was designed specifically for you. If you hadn't found that note yourself, someone would have, and when they gave it to you, it would have pushed you over the edge just the same. You had no reason to believe Dr. Light was in danger of anything other than the fall. And my guess is that if you hadn't done what you did, this guy, whoever he is, would have killed Light himself."

"Nut why did he set it up the way he did? There had to have been some reason for it," asked Starfire, her voice strained with emotion. Robin thought the same, but the trauma had stolen his will to speak.

Raven looked hesitant to answer, but stared them both in the eyes and said, if in a wavering voice. "My guess is just that, a guess. But the scenario plays out in my head like this: Dr. Light was the only thing illuminated on that roof, which normally is very well lit thanks to the signs. Then, when he... when the bomb went off, he looked to be the only source of light in the sky from that angle. My guess is that that must have been how Reflex looked when he died.

It was Starfire's turn to fight back tears, although she was much less experienced at withholding emotions than her beau, and soon began crying into his shoulder.

This was just too much for Robin, and he let himself silently weep into his girlfriend's arms. Raven couldn't stand the waves of sorrow pouring off of them, and moved for her room. She hadn't made it more than a few steps out the door, when she heard the TV flicker to life behind them. Robin and Starfire stopped sobbing, and Raven could feel their sorrow tun to anger in a flash. She dreaded turning around, but felt she had no choice, and came face to face with the smiling visage of the man who had entered her room and set her emotions ablaze earlier that day.

Almost immediately after, Cyborg and Beast Boy stepped into the room, Beast Boy asking, "Dude, what's up? We got a note under Cyborg's door that said to come down here. Couldn't you just have-" he cut off when he noticed the man on the screen. "Dudes, I knew I wasn't crazy! I was him earlier today! It was like, a split second, but me and Cyborg both saw him on the roof this morning!"

Cyborg voiced his agreement. "Yeah, man. He just popped up, waved, and fell off the building! By the time we got to the edge, he was gone!"

Starfire glared at the TV. "I have also seen this man! When I stepped out of the shower this morning, and went to comb my hair, I saw him standing behind me through the mirror! But when I turned around, he had vanished!"

Robin growled. "I saw him too, for just a second. I was taking out some frustration on a punching bag, hitting it kind of hard, because it started to swing. When it swung in front of me once, he appeared right behind it, but when it swung back, he was gone!" He glared angrily at the screen. "Who are you?! And why are you doing this to us?!"

Yes, please tell us!" Starfire pleaded. "If we have done something to harm you, we are deeply sorry!"

It was at these words that the picture moved at all, or made any indication he could hear them. "Aww... Star, that really means a lot to me!" he cooed, holding his hands together and leaning his cheek on them. The sound of his voice, it's flurry of emotions and irrationality, disturbed them greatly. Raven was grateful that he wasn't in the room with them. "But I just can't let it go that easily. You see, I have a great deal of plans for you guys, think of them as Christmas presents, Robin's already got his!" he said excitedly, like a small child talking about his new toy, and wanting to share it.

Robin tuned purple with rage, and almost attacked the screen. Starfire's hand on his shoulder was probably the only thing keeping him at bay. "Why would you do something like this to us?!"

"Because I want you to feel loss, my friend. Just as I have. Hopelessness, which had plagued me for so long. I want you to realize the full scope of your actions on other people. Robin, you have already had a dose of this feeling. Helpless to save someone, the loss of your solemn vow never to kill. Your promise to Batman. A part of you died tonight, didn't it... Richard?"

Robin balked at the use of his first name. "H-how do you..." he stammered. The team looked at him, then at the screen, in stark disbelief.

"Easily enough, Dick. Easily enough. You'd be surprised what you can discover about the people you know if you dig deep. But don't think you've had all that I can give. Raven has had a small taste of my intentions, haven't you, Raven?"

The empath growled at the memory of being forced to deal with his psychotic mindscape. The fear of being lost forever in a mental state you couldn't control... it had taken quite some time to recover from him, and to settle her emotions. "Don't let this guy suck you in. He's absolutely insane. I've felt his mind, he appeared near me, too. He's far more broken than anything I've faced before, and we've come across some truly crazed individuals."

"I'm touched that you remember, Rae," she flinched at her nickname, "And I would like to take a moment to correct myself. I had said earlier that I was giving you gifts, then stated that I meant to take that which is precious from you. I do apologize, contradictions run deep for me. Like blood, almost. It's actually quite interesting. Well, I've said what I came to say, but I haven't done anywhere _near_ what I've come to do. Goodbye, guys!" he waved at them.

Cyborg stopped him before he disconnected, throwing out the question: "Who the hell _are _you, man?!"

"Oh, crap, I forgot to introduce myself. Dammit, I knew I was forgetting something. Thanks, Cy," he added with a smile and a wave. "You guys should already know me, but I guess that much isn't true anymore. For now, just call me," he took a moment to imitate a cheesy heroic pose, "Demonstreak! Later!" he added, kicking at the camera. The feed was cut off rapidly.

After several moments of silence, Beast Boy was the first to speak. "I don't suppose any of you know what the hell to do now, do you?"

Author's Note: Kickass. Demonstreak's coming along _just_ the way I like him. So far, so good, you guys! Again, I want to apologize in advance if future updates take too long. Now, I know I've marked this in the humor category, and this Chapter hasn't been very humorous, but I promise to make up for that later! Quite possibly next chapter. Also, if you have any questions, or spot any inconsistencies or plot errors, or stuff like that, let me know! Thanks for reading! And for those of you who aren't reading this, all your mothers are fat! (I say this because you aren't reading it, and can no way take offense by it. For those of you who ARE reading it and decide to share this insult with those people who are not, I apologize in advance to any fat people I offend. My bad. Also, recruit more readers.) R&R&Thankies!


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: So, last chapter was pretty messed up, huh? Yeeaahh, that was fun. Demonstreak's going to take his sweet time breaking the Titans one by one, and I'll do my best to make it fun for you guys. (Insert evil laugh here.) But anyway, we still have a long way to go. I had a couple of people ask me about Gothica, namely someone asking about me not doing anything with her powers. I think you guys will be pleasantly surprised. If not disturbed. On with part 3!

**Chapter 3**

Breaking the Titans, or, at least Robin, was proving to be more enjoyable than should be allowed. Demonstreak sat in the living room of his apartment, his goggles hooked into his TV to broadcast the cameras from Titan's Tower onto his wide screen. A box of Panda crackers completed the scene, while Red X came and went as he pleased, sometimes making preparations for D's plans, others just doing his own missions, keeping his own name in the world of villainy. It really didn't matter to the white-haired psycho, he found solace just as amusing as company. But for now, the Titans had taken a moment to rest, each doing their own little duties. He knew they had probably figured it all out by now, but that doesn't mean they could do anything about it. So he decided to take a few hours visiting his new favorite place: Telltale.

He took a few moments to set up his currently barren bedroom, spacing everything in a very feng-shue-ish (spelling?) style. His modernized hand-mirror before him, made of magically treated safety glass and a stereo magnet, he assumed a meditative position that bore a remarkable resemblance to a purple-haired empath. But instead of repeating her well-known mantra, he had taken to reciting an old poem from one of his favorite books: "

_Not long, not long, my father said_

_ not long shall you be ours._

_ The Raven King knows all too well_

_ which are the fairest flowers...."_

He had no sooner finished the first verse than he found himself standing on the underside of a telephone wire, staring at a very vacant-looking vagabond, who bore some resemblance to himself, except his costume was in brown tatters, and his hair looked absolutely filthy. "Hello, Apathy!" Demonstreak said cheerfully. The aspect gave no motion or pause, indicating that he had heard him. Matter of fact, he didn't move at all. "Good to see you're still doing your job," he said, than turned to examine the city before him.

To say that his mindscape city made absolutely no sense to anyone but himself would be an understatement. And asking any questions about it's construction past small details would be as likely to yield a definitive answer as asking why God has allowed Richard Simmons to walk the Earth all these years (shudder). Buildings whose base construct started and ended in the sky, with highways and byways marring their walls and windows in an impossible knot, grass that grew beyond it's jurisdiction, in shades we are not programmed to be able to conceive, and masses of people walking undefinable paths for indeterminable purposes, were the few things in this world one could actually make sense out of. Fractures of land floated by, some mirror images of each other, others so drastically different that comparing the two would be a feat even the greatest writers of our age would consider themselves accomplished to have performed. Entire sections of sky would appear two-dimensional from one angle, then, by merely looking at them a little harder, or softer, they would take on paragons of other dimensions, branching into constructs and directions not conceivably possible.

Demonstreak's mind had not just shattered and reformed, his subconscious had completely merged with his conscious mind, in an array of wild and indescribable angles and aspects that could only be described as such:

Imagine, if you will, the common theory for the human mind. Many people consider it a maze, while others think of it as an onion. Both indicate multiple layers and possible paths, depths of information and potential that mapping would have taken years to accomplish at a constant rate by a sizable workforce. No one person can see in all of those angles, all of those directions, all of those thoughts but for bits at a time. Now take that mental image, whatever it may be, that you have developed of your own mind, or of someone else's, maybe not someone specific, but a generic idealization of the human conscious and subconscious, take all of those possible angles, all of those memories, every thought that mind could ever have produced, all of it's emotions, it's desires, impulses, and instincts, and compound them into a single, solitary line, where you can see all of it at once, every angle, every surface, all as one image.

This is the feat his mind had tried to accomplish, and thus shattered into what it is now. Decades of thought and memory and human nature drawn into a single pinpoint, a singularity of psyche, and then ruptured from the pressure as if a black hole had suddenly realized that it did _not_ in fact hold infinite space, it really _was_ just a single little dot of matter, and thus had expelled everything out in a single instant so as to prevent it's own undoing. Normally, all of Demonstreak's aspects would keep to their own realms, making their own decisions based on their own information without collective thought from the others. Now, though, they all interacted as one, against and for each other, some in passing, some even taking arms against like-minded ideals.

He himself found it all highly amusing, and entertaining to watch. Things he did not know about himself were now common knowledge, and those ideals he had taken for granted as a "normal" person had quite possibly been annihilated, mutated into something else, or, in some cases, compounded upon itself to such a degree that there were now either a multitude of the same aspect, or it had grown to gargantuan proportions. For example, the entire cult of aspects that had dedicated a corner of his mind and their very existence to Hello Panda chocolate crackers (seriously, like CRACK).

But he could not stay and marvel here for too much longer, he had come here on a mission, and was determined to see it through.

Until Femininity got a hold of him.

A tall, blonde-haired, athletically built woman in a black tube-top and leather pants came rushing out of a nearby cafe dedicated to different flavors of Cheeto, screaming at the top of her lungs, "O-M-G! You're here! Awesome! I can't _wait_ for you to try out the new outfit I made for you! You'regoingtoloveitohmygod!"

To say that D was taken aback by this woman's presence would be.... well, actually, a flat-out lie. A short attention-span and a tendency to go off on whatever tangent that presented itself, (or herself) had been one of his most noticeable trends. But only when he wanted it too. After all, it was _his_ insanity, _he_ had final say. He took a second to contemplate the implications of being fully in control of your mind and being totally insane at the same time, then drifted off onto a thought pattern about shrink-wrap. He decided to set that tangent aside for now, resolving to bring it back up when next the topic of Raven made itself known, and allowed himself to be dragged along by a rambling female him.

Back at the Tower, where normalcy could be said present and accounted for, the Titans had taken a moment to go over all of their options as to who the intruder had been. Almost all of them had come to the same conclusion. Save for Starfire and Beast Boy. Starfire blatantly refused to believe their theories on who this horrible intruder into their life was.

"No, it cannot be! He would never take actions such as these against us! He would not hurt our Robin so, he would not threaten us, or make attacks against us! He would not let us kill, or-" she cut herself short at the expression on Robin's face. The fact that it had been a trap designed especially for him had not softened the blow any. Robin was close to breaking.

"Dudes, I've got it!" Beast Boy exclaimed, pulling out his infamous whiteboard of conspiracy theories. He wiped off a large array of drawings and post-its that made a connection between Raven and an army of demon squirrels (thank The Tygre for that, credit where credit is due.), and began drawing furiously, rambling the entire time.

"Ok, if he's not a horrible upgraded Sladebot designed to imitate his powers, but with Slade at the wheels, then he's got to be either a renegade from an alien species with the ability to morph and read minds that has come here seeking humans as an alternate source of fuel, or he's a mass psychosis that manifested itself within our minds and made us _think_ we saw him, and even took control of one of us to set up the Dr. Light thing."

Cyborg calmly stood up, grabbed Beast Boy by the collar, and set him down on a stool. He then proceeded to tie Beast Boy to said stool, than dangle him out the window, anchoring the rope to the couch. "Man, I don't want to believe it's him. It can't be. He's dead!"

"I don't want to think it either, Cyborg, but it's the only option we have. Everything points to him, whether we like it or not," Robin said solemnly, his voice weak from guilt.

"Lies," Starfire screamed, pounding the table. "You will not dishonor the memory of our friend with your false accusations! He would never do this to us, he would not-"

"ENOUGH!" Raven bellowed, her eyes red his anger. She forced herself back into her seat, and Starfire took hers. "I don't want to admit it any more than you do. But I'd read his mind a few times before he.... left. I'd even been to his mindscape, and he to mine. Our connection was probably stronger than the one I have with Robin. Actually, much stronger. Especially since, when I tried to enter Robin's mind first, he fought me, tried to keep me safe. He, however, welcomed it, as if he had nothing to hide. And when I read Demonstreak's mind when he appeared, through all of the chaos I could still sense him. I can _still_ sense him," she added quietly, averting her eyes from the rest.

Starfire stifled a cry in her hand, and Cyborg and Robin looked absolutely defeated. Beast Boy, having made his way back to the group a la hawk morph, sat down, and with no humor in his voice, conceded, "I guess Reflex really is back. But why does he want to kill us?"

Demonstreak, however, had abandoned all thoughts of the Titans for a brief, shining moment, in reaction to the outfit his Feminine side had made him wear. It consisted of a leather vest, with crossed leather belts coming to an X on his chest, with a demon's head belt buckle holding them together, and a pair of black leather pants that almost matched hers, save for the overlapping chains. Knee-high leather steel-toed armor plated boots and matching plated gauntlets accented the outfit, with a black Cadet's hat adorning his head, and his goggles resting around his neck. He noted the lack of shirt.

"Ohmygoditlooksso GOOD. ON. YOU!" Femininity squealed, punctuating the last three words with a fist-pump in the air for each. She was truly one of his more curious aspects, and he was grateful there was only one of her. It made him appreciate her more.

"I'm just lucky I don't need the suit for my extra powers anymore. Guess a year of training and a freak accident can really drive those lessons home, huh?" he mused, admiring himself in the mirror.

A few seconds later, a tarnished, stain-covered copy of himself with his suit on came drudging through the door. Femininity shuddered and stuck a tongue out at him. "What do you want, Rude?"

The new arrival took one look at D, and without skipping a beat, snarled, "What, are you going hard gay now?"

Demonstreak simply smiled and said, "Don't make me feed you to Obsessive. You know how he likes to _clean._" Rude shuddered at the thought of being left to the devices of one of D's many aspects that had grown manic since the accident. Fortunately, as there was only one of them, and he tended to keep to himself, he did not have a great impact on D's psyche. He did occasionally feel the irrational urge to clean the apartment dry, though. The filthy clone stomped out of the store, and D waved goodbye to Femininity, who proceeded to harass a local Hello Panda cracker cultist about their chosen robes of worship.

Taking a moment to recall his mission, he hunted through the streets of his psyche to find Bravery ad Cunning, his two second favorite aspects. He still liked Femininity the best. She was one of his favorite traits to hold conversations with, and he loved her outfits. _She has the best taste_, he mused.

After a few hours of searching and sidetracks, he finally found Bravery and Cunning playing practical jokes on Rage. D decided to help. "So, boys, what're we doing?"

Bravery spoke up, always the voice of the pair. "We are going to set this gunpowder-filled box of Hello Panda crackers in the middle of the alley, then, when Rage comes by to pick it up, we're going to shoot it with a Roman candle, and blow him sky high!" Cunning laughed evilly, and D decided he could stand to be a little happier today.

After a very sudden explosion and a thorough chase scene, the bastardly trio ducked into a Quick-E-Mart selling unlabeled canned goods for a hundred dollars a can, and sat in a corner to discuss the mission. They ignored Greed, proprietor of the shop, and set about their business. "So, boss, what do you have for us?" He stared at them for a moment, much like Oogie-Boogie to his trick-or-treaters, and grinned. "I feel it is necessary for us to procure another roommate, and some more help in our dastardly deeds. So I've decided to free an old friend from a new prison."

They leaned in intently, not wanting to miss a word, and D couldn't help himself. He grabbed both of them by the collar, and bashed their heads together violently.

"Ow, man, I should kick your ass!"

"You'll get yours for that."

"Shut. UP." he growled, startling the two. His wicked grin returned rapidly, and he continued as if nothing had happened. "I thin it's time we got our little pet fangirl back."

The two aspects grinned widely at this, and all three began to plot.

It should be mentioned that Gothica was not sent to Arkham, but a rather disturbing institution known as Craic Asylum, off the coast of northern California. It was disturbing for many reasons: being isolated on a small island, being many stories tall and made in the old Gothic-Victorian architectural style popular many hundreds of years ago, and in some places still today. But it's most horrifying trait was that of it's interiors: imagine, once again, if you will, a stereotype that has been around for ages. The happy hospital. Where all of the nurses and doctors are having a swell time, and all the patients are "special little stars." The walls are pristine white with floral patterns everywhere, and everyone is happy... or else. It's enough to make anyone cry inside.

Now picture a little goth girl with no family, the man she loves dead, and her multiple personalities and schizophrenia acting as an unrelenting torrent of abuse, trapped within the confines of this cotton-candy hell. Gothica was a very, _very,_ unhappy person. As a result, she spent a great deal of time under solitary, with a camera watching her at all times, in a padded, well-lit, white room. Which made her more upset.

You can only imagine what it must have done to her for a very strange man with white hair and leather and chains to appear rapidly before her, directly below the camera, and tell her he's her old love. Needless to say, she attacked him.

Now, the attack itself didn't surprise him. Even her cries of "Liar, get out of my head!" he expected. What he did _not_ expect, however, was for her shadow behind her to draw up, and take the silhouetted shape of a tall, gangly, blade-wielding beastie. The fact that it drew itself _out_ of her shadow, crafting the image of a wild, deranged, sword-carrying psychopath that drooled shadows and sounded distinctly like a crazed hyena, which then took stance in front of her, surprised him even more.

Then she spoke to it. "Get him, Malice." The creature lunged at him, waving it's blades wildly. Not having any room to back up, he simply teleported behind the girl, only to soon find his feet held in place by another pair of hands that had drawn themselves out of Gothica's shade.

"Oh, son of a digit," he grumbled, then teleported back to his post as Malice lunged at him again. He spun around in time to see the creature splash against the wall like water, then reform into a silhouette, drawing itself out of the wall again. Only this time, it was followed by an angel-winged creature, who, when fully manifest, took on pale skin, black hair, black bondage straps covering her body, and a large, white leather strap over her eyes. "Guardia, hold him down," Gothica snarled, still curled up into a ball in the corner, glaring daggers at Demonstreak.

"Look, you psychotic little shadowdancer, I don't care who you are, nobody holds me down. He then proceeded to glance out the door, pop into the hall, and, grabbing a scalpel from the table that he was sure he didn't want to know what it was _supposed_ to be used for, but kind of wanted to watch, popped back into the room, and stabbed the young girl in the leg. "Sorry, kid, but you have _got_ to stop attacking me," he said almost offhandedly as Gothica screamed in pain, clutching her thigh and sobbing. He then pulled the knife out, and, tearing part of Gothica's apron away, wrapped the cloth around her wound. With the pain, the two manifestations had dispelled themselves, sinking back into the young girl's mind.

She stared up at him, tears flooding her eyes, and sobbed quietly. "You _can't_ be Reflex. He wouldn't hurt me like this!"

"Kid, I'd stab Chuck Norris for a Klondike Bar. _You_ were trying to _kill me_." Feeling nothing but sympathy for the young child, and a bizarre craving for Chuck Norris flavored chocolate-chip cookies, he sighed. "I'm sorry, Gothica, it was all I could think off. Literally, I'm kind of totally crazy now, and my first thought is usually the one I go off of. Look, I know you don't believe me, but it's me. Or, I _used_ to be him. Now, I'm a whole different person. And I like who I am, no thanks to the Titans," he growled, his voice dripping malice again.

She glared at him with tear-filled eyes. "Fine, prove it. If you think you're anything like my Reflex, then you must know our password."

He blinked at her for a second. _Password? I hate passwords. They're made for stupid people with no trust and lax security. And stupid kids' shows. But she might have made me set one up, years back, when she was following me around all the time. Or did we set one up when we were sharing an apartment? So she'd know I was the only person there who-_ A thought donned on him for a second. Of course she had wanted a password. But he still hated the damn things, so they could never agree on one. The only one he had suggested was-

"How about 'open the damn door before I set all your Ruby Gloom books on fire, you freaking stalker'."

She grinned wildly at him. "It... is.. you," she sighed, then proceeded to pass out.

"Son of a fuckberry."

Red X noticed a few things when he came back to the apartment. The first being the most obvious-someone had redecorated. He looked around to see the walls painted a deep, _deep_ purple, the couch was now black leather, their entertainment system black-tainted steel, and the carpet matched the walls. There were also purple-and-black striped bean bag chairs sitting in front of the couch. He assumed that he had gotten the wrong apartment until he saw Demonstreak sitting in one of the chairs, munching on Hello Pandas, and watching X-Men. "Who goes 'poof' when they teleport, huh? That's so retarded!" he yelled at the screen. He took note that the madman now dressed in what looked to be a horrible cross between gothic bondage and hard gay leather. Yup, it was D. The second thing he noticed was that there were a few suitcases sitting next to one of the bedroom doors, which he could see had also been redecorated. All he could see of the room was black with white frills, and vowed never to enter that room again. Then he noticed it was _his_ room.

He was about to argue when a rather shapely sixteen-year old wrapped in a purple towel, with stark black hair and red eyes to match D's, walked out of the room. She took one look at him, and smiled. "Sorry about taking your room. The apartment across the hall is yours now. D figured you could use the extra workspace, plus have a place where you could take off your mask without being a paranoid pissball. Oh, and Guardia likes your cape."

Not wanting to know who Guardia was, or why there was a half-naked teenage girl in their living room, he moved across the hall, finding an envelope with X_D written as the only address or return posted to the door opposite theirs. "Very funny." He dug into the envelope, and found the key to his new apartment. Letting himself inside, he questioned yet again whether or not this business partnership was worth the trouble. Then he saw how much high end furniture, electronics, _food_, and other amenities Demonstreak had stocked the place with, and nodded to himself. There was also a small briefcase on the table, marked the same as the envelope, which he opened to find a small fortune in small, unmarked bills.

He was starting to like this partnership.

D smirked quietly as Red X closed his apartment door. He new how to fuel X's greed, by reminding him not-so-subtly that there was much to gain from this arrangement. Especially since D could literally walk in to any bank anywhere in the world, walk off with as much or as little as he needed, and walk back out. Teleporting, night-vision goggles, infrared, and a system that could hack almost any video feed on the planet made for a very good thief. And since he only needed the money to fund X, he usually used the rest to tend to his slight addictions and habits, as well as pay rent, cable, all of the normal bills. He didn't want people to _think_ he was a criminal. Hell, he'd even bought hair dye, and changed his clothes, or wore outfits over his suit when he went to each bank.

He made himself look different each time, and came in from a different angle, sometimes even bothering to have X give him some safe-cracking devices. Anything to confuse those stupid city cops. He enjoyed toying with people, and if it made his partner happy and his plans work, then he would do as he damn well pleased. Which, for the most part, wasn't doing much. Even being a driven, psychotic, super-powered revengemonkey couldn't beat out years of programmed laziness.

He smiled over at Gothica, who grinned back, and hummed a very odd showtune as she made her way back to her room. Coming out in a new outfit that he, with Femininity's help, had designed for her. It was a demented version of a maid's outfit, but the cute white apron, and the little frilly headband, were the only similarities to this outfit and her old dress.. The top had been replaced by an unbuttoned, unbuckled straightjacket, which the sleeves drug on the ground behind her. The high heels had been dropped in favor of red-dyed combat boots, and the dress done away with to make room for a much longer, much less frilly black uniform skirt. A bright red sash around her waist and a matching skull pin choker served as nice accents, while red streaks had been worked into her cascading black hair. It was a mishmash of varying styles, and made her look almost as demented as D felt.

She smiled at herself in a full length mirror on her door, then grinned at Demonstreak. "I feel like an old-victorian Harley Quinn! It's so cool!"

D smirked at her amusement. "Well, just don't start calling me Mistah D, ok? I might have to kill you."

She smiled coyly, and stared at him innocently. "Can I just call you master?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What did those horrible people do to you?"

She looked offended. "Nothing!" she pouted. "They just stuck me in that room all day, and brought me food. I thought you'd like it. After all, all of this is your idea, right? I just wanted to show my loyalty, nothing creepy like what _you're_ thinking." She was acting very childish. He could only assume her mood swings were due to her mental state, and decided to amuse her.

"Fine. But let the record show that you call me master _willingly,_ I'll not be strung up for having a sixteen-year-old slave girl running around."

She sat in the bean bag chair next to him, and leaned on his arm. "Speaking of weird stuff, now that you're dead, does that mean you're single?"

The other eyebrow raised, taking up post for it's brother. "You do realize you're a minor, right?"

She giggled at him, then wrapped her arms around his elbow. "That only counts if we're sleeping together. And I can wait two years for that."

He shrugged, musing that he probably would not be as ok with this as he was, if not for the fact that he didn't really give a flying gnat's arse about morals. _I try to recruit henchmen, and get a business partner and a psychotic schoolgirl girlfriend who calls me master._ He thought to himself and noticed in his musings that his mind had quieted considerably. _Am I going... sane?! Naww... can't be. Let me check... break the Titans. Kill the Titans. Hello Panda. Disembowel the Titans. Check, check, check, check. Multitude of voices.... check?_ He stared at the moon-eyed girl clinging to his arm, watching X-Men with him.

"Hold on, let me check something," he said, getting up and putting his goggles on. He clicked a few buttons until he found a quiet, closed down petting zoo, with no guards, and loads of sleeping baby animals. "Be right back."

He teleported away, and Gothica thought about making dinner. She fussed for several minutes over what to make, not being able to decide, they having filled the house with a variety of foods. She had just opened the fridge to take stock and get some inspiration from something other than the screaming board room in her head, all of whom wanted different things, when she heard D yell, "I'm back!" She poked her head around the kitchen wall, and saw him covered in blood, feathers, fur, and holding three small, very very dead, rabbits by the ears. "Yup, still crazy!" he nodded to himself in approval.

An idea swept over her, and she grabbed the bunnies by the ears. "Get cleaned up, we're having rabbit stew," she smiled, putting the dead animals in the sink, and pulling out some knives.

He watched her go to work for a second, before cleaning himself off. He thought to himself in the shower, and the realization slowly donned on him.

She was turning him sane.

He was still going to kill the Titans, though. This just made it much easier to focus. That, and she wanted them dead, now, too.

Author's note: First off, I would like to apologize to any animal rights activists, disclosing that no small or large animals were harmed during the filming of this chapter. Second, I will give credit for the verse of the poem from the first part of this chapter, but not just yet. I want to see if you can guess it. AND NO GOOGLING! I'LL KNOW! Or any other search engines. Third, most of you have probably noticed by now that I have a small obsession with black, purple, and red. That is not something that is going to change soon. Also, the outfit was entirely my idea, so no flaming. But that aside, what do you think? Too much, too little? R&R! (Yes, yes, I am one of the many and shameless review whores. Just as long as it's not solid flaming, though. If you don't like it, then actually tell me _why.)_

_PEACE!!_


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I HATE THE COLD! Winter is fast becoming one of my least favorite holidays. Ever. But that doesn't stop me from typing, no sir. I've decided to do a double update, mainly because I CAN! MUAHAHAHAHA. (cough) ahem. HAHAHA. Ok, I'm done. Ha.

Seriously, though, I'm enjoying writing these characters. I think I'll have Femininity play a somewhat moderate role throughout, at least to a point. Gothica needs a name change, to go with her 'master's' new visage. And her new look, too. Trying to focus more on Red X and Titans this chapter, but we'll see how well that works. If any of you have been paying attention to my earlier fics, I don't plan these things out, I _literally_ come up with this stuff as I type it, except in rare circumstances. And the sad disappointment that was the end of the last book was one of those. I'm not happy with it, and may redo the last 5 or 6 Chapters entirely, later on. On with the show!

** Chapter 4**

Having Gothica around was proving more useful than X had imagined. She did all of the household chores, shopping, interacting with the public _but at all._ All of the things he hated doing, and Demonstreak seemed want to ignore. He would admit that the young girl's level of devotion to the psychopath was somewhat disturbing, but supposed that it stemmed from both of them being off their wagons. D had a tendency to perform various acts ranging anywhere from ridiculously charitable, to horrible acts against nature. He had also adopted an ever-changing wardrobe, stemming from the slightly disturbing gothic-hard gay outfit from a week ago, to denim shirts and jeans, to a giant Domo costume that he wore for two days.

It was unnerving, to say the least. X was thankful he had his own apartment.

Gothica's wardrobe never changed. Like the Titans, she had adopted the straightjacket-long skirt-red leather combo as a uniform of sorts. Her biggest indicators that she was "unwell", were a tendency to speak to nobody in particular about various, morbid subjects, sudden mood swings that he knew well enough could NOT be attributed to teen pregnancy or PMS, both of which he was thankful for, and an absolute lack of care for _anyone_ other than D. She seemed to worship him almost as a cult leader of sorts. It was a weird blend of romantic affection and idol worship, that usually led to her unquestioningly following orders even Red X wouldn't do, volunteering for the strangest jobs, and an absolute refusal to call him anything other than master.

Red X had approached her about this one day. "Why _do _youcallhimmaster,anyway?" he asked her one morning, as she made them breakfast. For all her flaws, she was a very good cook.

"Because that's who he _is_, dumbass."

His eyebrow twitched. He had taken mental note long ago that both of them were very good at this. "But why do you consider him your master?"

She shrugged. "Not really sure. It might be the fact that I saw him as my idol _before_ we both went crazy. Well, before _he_ did. I've actually been slightly deranged since I was ten. It's very annoying, all those voices in my head. And the fact that some of them take over every once in awhile is more than upsetting," she added, gripping her cooking knife tightly. It dripped red from the sausage she was slicing. He cringed. "But mostly, it's because he came back for me. I thought he was like, _dead_ dead. Six feet under and all that crap. But he shows up out of nowhere and takes me out of that god-awful cotton-ball purgatory, albeit stabbing me in the process, and took me back into his life entirely. I'm actually slightly more sane around him, too. Makes sense, though. One of the big reasons for my total meltdown was him going _pop_. Or, at least, we thought he did."

"Ok, I can understand why you follow him, but the 'master' thing?"

She sighed and leaned on her elbow against the counter, twirling the knife in one hand. X didn't want to know how she knew how to do that. "It's actually just that. I wanted to show him how much I appreciate him. He saved my life, lord knows what another year or two in there would have done for me. Or to me. So I've simply decided to follow him until my dying day, erforming every single task he asks me." She said this last part as matter-of-factly as one would read off a grocery list. "And don't go trying to change my mind," she growled, pointing the knife at him. "This is something all of me can agree on. So push off. And get cleaned up, you reek, and breakfast will be ready soon."

He shrugged her off with another twitch, and moved across the hall to get dressed. His outfit aside, and showered, he threw together a button-down dress shirt in white and blue stripes, blue slacks, and black dress shoes. He tied a black bandana with a large X in red over his hair, and slid on a pair of wrapparound sunglasses. He still had an identity to keep, although he was more than certain these two couldn't give a shit.

The Titans were having a hard time dealing with the fact that their no longer _dead_ comrade wanted them killed. They had also received the news that Gothica had been broken out of Craic Asylum, but had yet to track her down. They'd invesigated her cell, and the damage they saw indicated nothing less than her being killed and transported away. They had notified the Young Guardians immediately, but had yet to receive a response.

Their first priority was Demonstreak. Starfire had gone from defending the honor of her fallen friend to declaring him a sworn enemy for turning traitor, and Beast Boy and Cyborg were quick to agree. Robin had varying uncertainties, spending most of his time (surprise, surprise) at the console in the living room, researching Demonstreak. He had various windows open on the main screen, some newspaper articles on various happenings around the city, other old combat files from Reflex's military and Titan careers.

Raven spent quite a bit of time meditating, trying to place a lock on Demonstreak's mind. But every time she got close, she would either be force back by the randomly raging torrent of his mind, or he would disappear and she would lose him entirely, or she would find him, and be able to get a slight lock, narrowing his location down, then _another_ psychotic mindset would intrude itself upon her, in very close proximity to D. She was growing very agitated, and as a result spent a great deal of time meditating. Her Nevermore was having a great deal of trouble adjusting.

And amidst all of it, the Titans had forgotten completely about one very important thing: Christmas. (Yes, yes, deal with it. I'm having a Christmas chapter.) The one who reminded them, however, made for a very interesting conversation.

It started with a normal Monday morning, at least, normal for nowadays. Raven and Robin were debating the semantics of Reflex's current mindset, Cyborg and Beast Boy distracting themselves with a movie, while Starfire made attempts to interpret the meaning of a giant rabbit that only the main character could see, and arguing the finer points of time travel with a movie that couldn't hear her.

All of a sudden, as a large chunk of plain descended upon the main character, the screen flickered over to Demonstreak and a familiar-looking young girl with black hair and a heavy tan.

"What's Up, Killsticks?!" he shouted at them, drawing Robin and Raven's attention to the screen. None of the Titans were happy to see them.

"What do you want, you psycho?" growled Beast Boy. Cyborg glared at the screen, and Starfire looked livid. Raven and Robin approached the back of the couch, their expressions unreadable.

"Nothing much, string bean. Just reminding you of a very important event!" he waved his hands above his head, and did a little dance from side to side as he spoke. He backed away from the screen, and they saw him dressed up as a very interesting Santa Claws: he still had the Red Jacket and Pants, but his thick leather boots were replaced with black metal greaves, the thick leather belt done away with for five smaller ones in various shades of green, and where the usual hat with the little white puff of fur at the end, sat a very dead, very deeply red-dyed rabbit, with it's white fluffy tail left undyed, to replicate, very sickeningly, the image of the Santa Hat.

The girl stepped back with him, and appeared to be dressed as a beach bunny Mrs. Claus. A red leather bikini, with red stilettos, and a matching dead bunny Santa hat. The room around them had been decorated in standard Christmas fare; a normal Christmas tree, with pretty ornaments, Christmas lights, even a Happy Christmas streamer over the fireplace. Unfortunately, the entire setting was so bright, stereotypically Christmas and standard whitebread suburban home, that there were no clues _whatsoever_ about where they were.

"It's Christmas time! I suggest we call a ceasefire until after New Years! After all, there's no use in mindless bloodshed on Christmas, and you guys are already having a _very _difficult time finding me, for good reason, So I figure we should take a well-earned break and NOT try to kill each other. Or at least, us not trying to kill you!" Demonstreak posed dramatically while making his speech, and the young girl merely smiled and waved at them.

The Titans weren't entirely sure what do do about this, but they new for damn sure that it wasn't going to happen. For one, Robin was practically snarling at the screen. "How DARE you suggest a ceasefire at a time like this! Do you have any idea what you've done?! I've seen the acts of violence around town, the random crimes you've committed! There's no way in HELL we're going to stop looking for you! I thought you might be salvageable, that we might be able to save what's left of your mind, but this?! Tell me where you're hiding and I'll be there in a heartbeat!"

"OK! I'm in the basement!" Robin disappeared through a door. "Of a different building entirely! What a mook. So what about you guys? Ceasefire?"

The rest of the Titans looked livid. Raven was the first to find her voice. "Who. The HELL! Is that girl with you?" The couch shook with mental energy, threatening to vault itself at the wall. Cyborg sat down on one end of it to weigh it down, and Beast Boy turned into a Galapagos turtle, a 200 pound _tank,_ weighing the other end. "And why is she dressed like that?"

The girl stared at Raven and looked ready to cry. "Yo-you don't recognize me? That's so mean!" She then glared daggers at her. "And what's wrong with my outfit?! I made it myself, you bitch!"

The couch exploded, sending Beast Boy and Cyborg flying in opposite directions, and Starfire straight backwards. Raven then excused herself from the room, the detonation bringing her back to reality. Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy were left to recompose themselves, moving the spare sofa in front of the TV. Cyborg was the first to put it all together, though. "Gothica?! We thought Demonstreak had killed you! We couldn't find anything after you broke out, just some slashes and blood marks in your cell."

"I'm so glad you remember me! But it's not Gothica anymore! It's Marionette!" She waved hello at him, then grinned darkly. "And I'm gonna kill you too." The bright smile returned. "But after Christmas!"

Demonstreak picked her up by the scruff of the neck, and placed her behind him. "Thought you oughtta know that I'm at least not going to try to kill you at all this holiday season! So Happy Christmas!" He kicked the camera again, and the feed cut off.

The three remaining Titans looked at each other. "So what now?" Beast Boy asked. Needless to say, they had no intentions of celebrating this year.

Things at Red City were not going very well. Siphon had just learned that his best friend _wasn't_ dead, and was attempting to kill the Titans. He had also received notice a week ago that Gothica had been killed, then a few hours ago was told that instead, she had _joined_ Reflex's slowly building Marauding party, and they were now calling themselves Demonstreak and Marionette. Worse yet, up until the last few days, very strange incidents had been occurring around Jump City, some sending the Titans on a wild goose chase, others So obscure and irrational that he was surprised more questions weren't being asked. Everything from the slaying of almost an _entire_ petting zoo, to someone dressing all of the mannequins, and they did get _all_ of them, as varying Marvel characters, only as opposite genders.

Freeboard's favorite had been the female Cyclops. None of the Young Guardians, however, looked anywhere near happy with the news. Jinx had blatantly refused to believe it, much like Starfire, Kunoichi spending most of her time trying to convince and console her at the same time. Neither were working. Portal, Shift, and Obsidiant, not having very much exposure to Reflex, except for cursory introductions, and attending his funeral, immediately took up much the same position Robin had: he was a criminal know, and had to be dealt with. FreeBooard, Powerhouse, and Siphon were left in shock and disbelief at the news. The City itself had been split almost in two: those who wanted to do what they could to get the old Reflex about, who had heard his stories and new him as one of the team's founders, and one of it's original idealists and fighting members; and those who knew nothing about him, except he used to be a member, but now he was a psychotic criminal, and needed to be dealt with.

So Siphon, as the acting leader, and the strongest voice in the City, being one of it's other founders, and currently it's longest active member, (having gotten his powers before Powerhouse), made the most logical decision he could think off: he was going to let the entire city, and the primary team, vote one way or the other. Try and save Reflex and Gothica from themselves, cure their mental issues, and return them to the team; or, quite simply, hunt him down and arrest him, barring that, destroy him.

Jinx was not a fan of this second option. "Destroy him?! Are you kidding me?! I've already lost him too many times! How the hell am I supposed to react, knowing he's still alive? Let alone vote NOW to decide what to do with him?!"

Siphon just shook his head. They were in Jinx's room in the main structure; a large abandoned military security outpost on the outside of the ghost town that had been converted into Red City. It had dorms, computer systems (which were more than operational, thanks to FreeBoard), and training facilities. It was perfect to convert into a base of operations, after having received the clearance to use it, in no small part thanks to Alicia White, who acted as an envoy between the Young Guardians and the Armed Forces.

Kunoichi had spent the last several hours trying to console Jinx, and Siphon and FreeBoard had gone together to explain this. "I don't expect you to vote, actually. But I thought you should know about it. I figured it would be better than us voting, and you finding out about it later. Both FreeBoard and I are voting to save him. Kunoichi?" he asked, knowing the battle-hardened ninja would have enough composure to answer now.

He was right. "I'm staying here with Jinx, but as my proxy, I want you to vote to save them. But understand something," she added, glaring and jabbing a finger at Siphon. "I'm voting to save Gothica. Reflex is just a fringe benefit."

Siphon nodded. Kunoichi had never really seen Reflex as anything more than a comrade, and mainly because Gothica was So fond of him. The two had never really gotten along very well. But he knew she had a certain respect for him. He had "died", she said, a "warrior's death." FreeBoard and Siphon left for the main command room, where the rest of the Command Team, namely Obsidiant, Shift, and Portal, waited, with the main computer set to display them to the entire city.

Siphon picked up a large microphone in front of him, and addressed the full city. "Testing the Red City procedural broadcast system. Ok, everyone. The polls were closed a half hour ago. The Command Team have also placed their votes. And don't worry, we're counting everyone as one vote each. Regardless of how many copies they can make of themselves, Kid Cloning. Now, we're getting the results now, and the members not on screen have also placed their votes, or opted not to vote." He pulled the printout from a feed under the desk. "Ok, out of the 3292 people that voted, 1646 of you voted to save 'Reflex', now 'Demonstreak', and 'Gothica', now 'Marionette'. That means that-"

"-the exact same number voted to have him incarcerated or destroyed." FreeBoard interrupted.

Siphon took a moment to think of the implications of this. "SO, the way I see it, we have two options. We let Jinx chose-"

"-which she is NOT going to do." interrupted Shift.

"Or we let the Titans vote."

The Titans stared incredulously at the screen, which had the entire Command Team of Young Guardians on display. Raven was the only one who could speak. "You want us to vote, either to save him or send him away, potentially kill him? Are you kidding me?!" The table behind her started to glow, and the rest of the Titans moved away from it quickly.

Siphon just gave her a look. "Ok, I can understand where you come from, but it's either that, or make Jinx decide by herself. What would you do?"

The empath sighed at the other team's leader. She had been reappointed the leader as of Robin's emotional breakdown, and his tendency to go on frequent tirades whenever Demonstreak's name was mentioned. It was a new strain of "Slade disease", as Beast Boy called it. "Fine. I guess we don't really have a choice." The table resumed it's normal color. She turned to the rest of the team.

"Ok, we're voting on whether or not to save Demonstreak. So, in order, we're going to vote one by one, and telling WHY."

Again, silence reigned, before Cyborg spoke. "I say we save him. I've seen what technology and chemicals can do to a person's psyche. And I think I may know a way to fix him."

Beast Boy took a turn. "I don't think we should. We gave him a few chances while we were still teammates, and as far as I'm concerned, Reflex IS dead. This guy needs to be locked up."

Starfire's turn. "I do not appreciate him turning traitor on us, nor trying to kill us, and I consider him a total klorbag for what he has done to Robin. But," she said, casting her eyes down. "We do owe him for what he has done for us and this world. I say that he has earned a second chance."

Robin stared at her incredulously. "I can't BELIEVE you're voting for this guy! He needs to be locked up like the psycho he is!" Robin stormed off, grumbling about calling someone who had "more sense."

Raven sighed, and said, "Well, I guess we know his vote." She turned to the screen, and met Siphon's eyes. "We're going to do everything we can to save him, Siphon. I promise." Siphon nodded, and cut off the feed to return the news. She turned around and saw Beast Boy staring incredulously at her, while the other two smiled weekly. She walked up to Beast Boy and said simply, "We could have left you in that sewer."

He didn't have any complaints afterward.

Demonstreak had to smile at himself. His Operation: Ceasefire Freakout had worked perfectly. Robin was now no longer the operating leader, and had almost been driven past the point of no return. And it was wearing down on the team relentlessly. He thought it was highly amusing that the Titans and Young Guardians had "voted" on whether or not to give him a chance.

He thought it was cute that they had a say in the matter. He wasn't going to let them.

"Master, what did they decide? Are they going to try to kill you, or 'save' you?" She used air quotes to indicate how preposterous the idea was. "We don't need saving, master. We're fine."

"I know, that's why it's funny. And they seem to have voted to try and save us. Raven had the final vote. I thought it was rather admirable of them."

Marionette glared at the screen, which showed the Titans in a collective circle around the table. "I don't like how you focus on her, master. She's already dumped beast Boy, there's no way she'd go for a psychopath like you."

"I never said my interest in her was romantic," he added with a wicked grin. "She has certain, talents that I could use for later. And I have certain ideas on how I want to break her. Besides," he said, standing up and moving around behind her, wrapping his arms around her neck. "I wouldn't want to disappoint my favorite little pocket crazy, would I?"

She smiled and grinned, then turned around and kissed him lightly. "Well, go get Red X, I want to go out for dinner."

Demonstreak nodded, and kissed her forehead, before exiting the apartment. He lifted his hand to knock, and an idea sprang to mind. One that, in his current mentality, could do nothing to ignore. So he took several steps back, and used his accelerated teleport to ram down the door, screaming, "The British are coming, the British are coming!" as he arrived. He looked around, and saw Red X hiding his face behind a book, working a bandana over his head, and snapping his sunglasses on.

"Watch how you enter a room, D! I can't have people knowing who I am!"

"Oh, relax, we don't care who you are, man. Besides, who are we going to tell? Everyone wants us either dead or institutionalized. Like they would believe us, anyway. Now get dressed, Marionette wants to take us to dinner. And I suggest not arguing with her."

Red X sighed, and put his book down. Taking a glance at the shattered door, he paged the landlord, requesting a repair. It was going to be a very long night, he could tell well enough. He debated whether or not he wanted to actually attend this dinner, then figured that he could slip away with little to no problem.

Dinner itself was actually the most normal thing they'd done since this horrible mutation of a business relationship started. X took the opportunity to ask his hosts/partners a few choice questions that had plagued him for a few weeks.

"Why the HELL have I stayed associated with you two so long?" he barked as they awaited their meal. They had decided on a mid-class cafe, ordering an array of toasted sandwiches and Italian sodas. The psychotic pair had actual dressed normal for the occasion, as well. It made him paranoid.

D was the first to answer his question. "Simple enough. You stick around because we pay for food, cable, rent, and basically let you live your life with no questions asked. You've been performing your missions like normal, with almost no interference by the Titans, due primarily to the fact that they have been focusing almost entirely on finding me, and the random as shit trail I've streaked across this county. We also pay you a considerable amount each week, using a small fortune I amassed early on robbing banks from every corner of the country. Enough exposition for you?"

"Ok. Fair enough." The sheer force of logic, and his own greed, kept hm quiet on this manner. He had been seeing less and less of them, mainly due to his having his own apartment. And he had stored away quite a large supply of funds for when this deal busted, or drew to a close. "So why do you even keep me around?"

Marionette took point. "Because master needs you to fix the suit, dummy! You've already adapted it to his Zenothium supply, but there are limits to what he can do, even with powers. You have a great deal of work put into this suit, and we have some more plans for it later. We also need your help with a lot of the technical aspects for our missions, and to be perfectly honest, you're pretty good company." Their sandwiches arrived, and she wasted no time devouring half of hers startlingly quickly.

He knew most of that, and to be perfectly honest, he was asking somewhat rhetorical questions. Their personalities and activities grated on his nerves somewhat, but their level of activity seemed to flux greatly. He just wanted to make sure he knew where he stood, So he knew when to bail out if necessary.

Demonstreak nodded at him. "And if you've forgotten your long-term investment in this endeavor, allow me to remind you. I intend to give you, and by proxy every villain in the city, the Titans on a plate."

Red X grinned at that. He reminded himself every day of this concept. The psychotic teleporter had practically memorized the Titan's weaknesses, strengths, their entire persons, in the year or two he was with them. Even with the minimal to moderate exposure he'd had, it was still more than enough personal information that, in the hands of any villain, could result in their deaths.

And Red X intended to sell it at a very high price.

"Now be quiet and enjoy your dinner. We're visiting the Titans tonight, and you're going to want to be on a full stomach. You don't necessarily need to come with us, but I recommend you be prepared.

Author's note: The dinner scene was primarily exposition, first off, So that anyone who had questions as to why someone like X would hang out with these psychos, I could answer pretty straightforwardly: greed. It's amazing what a desire for money and material wealth will drive you to do. Or put up with.

As a side note, the poem was from Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and is about a character called the Raven King. I thought it appropriate, given how he got the mirror.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: FINALLY! Chapter 5 is up! Score! Ok, last chapter was kind of weak, I'll admit that. But there was a lot of stuff in there that I wanted to get sorted out early on, so I wouldn't get spammed with a bunch of WTF reviews. But this Chapter will, very hopefully, satisfy you guys enough to get you hooked again. Or at first. Whatever. Have fun!

Chapter 5

When Red X was told that he and his "teammates" were visiting the Titans, he had assumed that they were going to break into Titans Tower, and leave a message, or steal something, or trash the place, and get into a fight, them leave.

What he didn't expect, was that they were visiting Titans _East_.

"What the hell are we doing here?" X asked them. Again.

Marionette just glared at him. "We're taking revenge against the Titans, you idiot! And that means all of them!" They were currently posted on the edge of the cliff above the East Tower, while Demonstreak dangled from makeshift scaffolding, made of duct tape and axles stolen from various cars. While they were parked. At the mall. There was going to be a large number of very angry holiday shoppers in Steel City.

D yelled up at the two of them. "Haven't you ever heard of guilty by association?! Besides, we're not killing _these_ Titans! Just screwing with them horribly!" X heard the rattling of spray paint cans, and the hiss of aerosol as D began his project.

X turned to Marionette. "So, about this 'killing the Titans' thing," he asked.

Marionette didn't even look at him. She was too busy admiring her 'master' at work. She just raised an eyebrow, "Hmmm?"

"How are you going to hand me the Titans on a plate if you're going to kill them?"

"Well, we're actually just going to break them beyond their limits, one at a time, until they've either gone berserk or broken down almost entirely. Don't worry, we'll leave some fighting spirit in them. Then, we'll compile all the personal data both me and Master have about those piss-ants, and fork it over to you. Then, when you sell it to the highest bidder, that person, whoever they may be, will be able to fracture them beyond words, and kill them without any effort from us," she rambled on as she lay across the cliff side, leaning over to get a good look at her idol, who, for some reason, had abandoned his visually mutinous wardrobe for his old Titans suit to undergo this task.

"So, you guys get all the fun of breaking them, without having to go through all the dirty work of killing them, and in the process, dangle me along by a thread to keep me around. All the while making the Titans think that you are their major direct physical threat, So that they will have no ideas about one of their other _numerous_ enemies using this information to end their lives, while they also deal with the mental strain of your psychotic escapades, and the individual mindfucks you've set in place for them. Got it right so far?"

"Basically,"she nodded. Then another thought occurred to him.

"Where are the Titans East?"

The Titans East were having a very large problem within the depths of Steel City's shopping district. There were reports from all over town, ranging from petty theft, to defacing of public property, to arson, and a few rather bizarre incidents, as well.

The most peculiar of these had gotten the Titan's attention, namely because they were not run-of-the mill crimes. Someone had stolen the axles off of several foreign cars outside of Steel Mall, the entire stock of the electronics store on Main, the adult book store on Cherry, and the local Toys-R-Us, had been rotated, where the electronics store now had all of the toys, the book store an entire stock of high end hi-fi equipment, and the Toys-R-Us... yeah.

Titans East had spent most of the morning responding to the store's calls, and the afternoon everything else. They hadn't even stopped for food, until now.

The worn-out team members were currently taking a much-needed break in the park, after having recently cleaned up the statues from some rather inappropriate graffiti, and some, additional works of art. Most of which were quite morbid, and involved a lot of red paint. At least, they hoped it was paint. Nobody wanted to do a chemical analysis.

"Who the hell," groaned Terra, stretching out on her back against the cool snow, "has the time or resources to pull this much crap in one night?"

"Actually, most of this stuff, they had all weekend to do," Aqualad pointed out.

"What do you mean? How can someone do this much damage over a three-day period, and nobody notice?" BumbleBee snapped at him. She had taken to walking for the last half hour, her wings being worn to bits, and it made her grumpy.

"Well, the stores that got switched around had all received bomb threats on Friday, at various times, and were thus closed for investigation all weekend. They had rooted through everything by Saturday morning, even used the bomb squad's dogs, but found nothing. So they kept it closed for a few days, waiting for the threat to pass. Someone could easily have used all that time to move their stock around."

"But the park? The cars at the mall?" Speedy drilled.

Mas y Menos decided to answer that one, but thanks to no one knowing Spanish, they turned to Aqualad again. "Look, I don't have all the answers."

"They probably set that up last night, after everything else was done. Most of the cars they jacked from were parked overnight, and those that weren't, which is very few, were parked early morning. And the park thing, you could pull that off with a 5 or 6 man team, over a few hours. Wait till the park closes, and boom, you've got all the time you need. Security here sucks, too," BumbleBee mused.

"Aren't we supposed to BE the security? We're the Titans, right? How can we let this crap happen?" Terra groaned.

A voice from the other side of the field answered for them. "The same way Titans West lets a psychotic villain have his way with their city, with no leads or clues, while he slowly but surely breaks their fragile psyches. You guys SUCK! At your job."

The team turned to face the heckler, then jumped into battle stances when they saw who it was.

"What's Up, People?!" Yelled Demonstreak into his megaphone. "We thought we'd drop by and say hello, before we went back home. Marionette popped out from behind him, and gave them a small wave of her hand. Red X de-cloaked next to her, and added, "It's good to meet you guys. What, no snappy comebacks? I thought that was a trademark for you kiddies."

Terra was the first to recognize X. She's heard stories of the man who had stolen the suit, and had fought him once or twice since re-joining the team. "X?! What the hell are you doing with these freaks?! I thought you had at least _some_ morals!"

"I'm doing what I do best, cutey," he teased, pulling out a small handful of throwing knives. "Whatever I want!" he chucked the projectiles en mass at the Titans team, and the fight began.

"Titans, go!" BumbleBee yelled out, pulling out her stingers and aiming her first shots at X. He backflipped gracefully away, and countered with an X-Adhesive that pinned her legs to the ground. She blasted the red glue away, and moved to fly after X, when Demonstreak rushed in in a blaze of white, and landed both fists into her abdomen, then placed a good solid kick to her ribcage, sending her flying into the tree behind her. She landed violently, and passed out.

Terra and Aqualad were having better luck. At least, a little. They were still conscious. Terra had gone after Marionette first, launching a large handful's worth of compressed stone at the young schizo, who had simply barked out, "Guardia!" At that point, Marionette's guardian angel had pulled itself out of her back, and encased it's young ward in her wings. The stones had shattered against it's feathers, and Aqualad's subsequent blast of fountain water had washed away, accomplishing nothing more than leaving a slight dew on the feathertips. Marionette popped her head out from her Guardian's cocoon, her face peeking out from between the wings. "I'd like you guys to meet my Angel Alter, Guardia. Good luck doing anything to me with her around. And while we're at it, I guess I should introduce you to some of my other friends. Malice, Feral, out boys!" She shouted, and Guardia spread her wings, revealing Marionette flanked by two more creatures, and Guardia in her full form.

Malice stood at a strange angle, arching his back and craning his neck to stare hungrily at Terra, his black blades tinged with the light reflecting off the snow. Feral, Marion's bestial Alter, had a form that made it impossible to determine whether he was more man or beast. A barrel-chested torso covered in rough, uneven patches of white fur over black skin, with lanky arms that ended in large, muscular claws, and legs to match, and a face that was as much muzzle as it was the visage of a madman, led this rag-covered beast a most disturbing appearance. What worried Aqualad more was it's tendency to stare at him like meat.

"Sick em," Marionette chimed, snapping her fingers. She then leapt into Guardia's arms, and allowed herself to be cocooned once more.

Malice launched itself after Terra, slicing through stone wall after another, and dodging stone projectiles by twisting it's body at sickening angles. It was all Terra could do to compress as much stone around her as densely as possible to shield herself from the onslaught of blades and blows.

Aqualad wasn't fairing much better. Feral seemed to take to water like a shark, his distored limbs making for good fins, and his high muscle density providing enough athletic support against the currents, that it merely dove through any of Aqua's head on attacks, and swam after him if he tried to surf on water to escape. His enhanced strength in the water leading to a potential advantage, he created a large aquatic sphere around them both of them, and began to pound it out with the animalistic summons.

Mas y Menos currently had their hands full, playing a very interesting game of cat-and-mouse with Demonstreak. He would appear, they would chase after him, then he would reappear behind them, land a blow, and move on. It was fairly even paced, superspeed versus teleportation, but D didn't need to use anywhere near as much energy as the twins to keep it up.

The most evenly matched could be said to be the current fight between X and Speedy. To Speedy, it was like fighting Robin with more gadgets. To X, it was like fighting Robin with a bow. Either way, they fell into old fighting patterns, one martial artist to the other, and covered a great deal of distance with their brawl. At least, until Speedy stepped on a tripmine X had set, and was blown into a marble statue. He fell unconsciousness, and lay in it's arms.

Terra and Aqualad were wearing thin pretty quickly. The summons didn't seem to have any limits to their onslaught.

Then Aqualad had an idea, albeit after a smart right hook to the jaw. _They_ _were summons. _They were created by someone, they weren't alive themselves. So Aqualad condensed the large sphere of water he and his ferocious opponent were dueling in, compacting it around Feral, and forcing most of the water into his throat. Not needing to breathe, this wouldn't be much of a problem, but pressure from inside the body, and out, tends to break the in between. Like ribs. And other bones. After a few satisfying cracks, he dropped the wolf-man to the ground, letting it lay passed out. He wondered if it could feel pain.

He looked over to assist Terra, and saw that she had had much the same idea, but rather, instead of crushing it from all angles by water, or even sand, she had condensed the earth around her into almost diamond-like consistency, and shot it as large spikes at a multitude of angles at her assailant, leaving Malice skewered in some pretty vicious ways.

"You murderous douchebags!" Aqualad and Terra turned to see Marionette fuming in Guardia's arms. "How _dare_ you do such horrible things to my puppets! I'll kill you, too!"

As if to punctuate her anger, Mas y Menos landed at her feet, followed rapidly by Demonstreak appearing between them, picking up Mas, and disappearing again.

He returned soon after, sans Mas.

"Where's our teammate?!" Terra shrieked. Menos had passed out, as well, and Red X tossed him next to BumbleBee and Speedy, underneath a tree.

D simply grinned at them. "He's asleep at home. I suggest you go there. NOW."

"What makes you think we'll listen to you?!" Aqualad yelled.

"What else are you going to do?" Demonstreak smirked. Red X appearred in front of him and Marionette, slamming down a smokebomb, which cleared to reveal the three of them gone.

Terra and Aqualad turned to see the two Alters had vanished, and their teammates simply asleep. They wondered if Demonstreak's little montage really was a threat to them too, now.

Getting home, however, they were left with no doubts in their minds, as they witnessed the defamed cliffside their sower stood in front of.

In large red graffiti, the words "We Molest Kittens" had been spraypainted along the cliff walls, with their tower replacing the T in molest. Various inappropriate stick figures adorned the spaces of rock that the letters did not cover, as well as various surfaces on the tower.

* * *

The Titans East made it a point to always leave one member of the team at the tower, regardless of their opponents.

"We Molest Kittens? Are you kidding me?" Beast Boy asked incredulously, as the majority of Titans East shook their heads. Only Mas y Menos could not be seen, both currently sleeping in their rooms.

"I'm serious BB. Their were... doodles."

Beast Boy shuddered, and heard the door to the common room slide open. "Beast Boy, what's up? Why are you talking to East?" Raven asked behind him. He didn't turn around, having clenched his eyes closed to rid himself of the horrible images.

"Ask them," he grumbled, jabbing a finger at the screen.

By the time Speedy had finished relaying the story, Raven was a whole new shade of pale. "I-I really didn't need to hear all of that. Thanks..."

At this point, Beast Boy called in Robin, Star, and Cyborg, who were briefed on the scenario. BumbleBee took point, so as not to go into as much detail as Speedy had. It had about the same effect, though.

"Now Demonstreak's targeting you?! Why would he need to do that?!" Robin shouted. Starfire steadied him a little with a hand on his shoulder, but only a little.

"You will have to forgive Robin, he is prone to the raging outbursts ever since, well..." she trailed off, but the other team new very well what she meant. Robin's fury against Slade was nothing compared to his hatred for Demonstreak. He had been tricked into killing someone, and nothing would stop him from taking anything less than revenge. Fortunately for the rest of the team, Raven's new position as leader left him without very many resources to track Demonstreak down.

"Don't worry, Star," Terra added, trying to comfort the young alien. "Just be glad he and Demonstreak haven't met face to face yet. With Robin this unstable, he'd be an easy target one-on-one."

Cyborg too a moment to clear some facts. "Ok, we know he's trying to kill us, but not before he tries to break us all, one at a time. But why's he after you now?"

"Probably because he thinks we're guilty by association, or maybe because he's worked with us all before, or something," BumbleBee replied. "Of course, it could just be that anything with a Titans logo on it is fair game to him now, I don't want to pretend to know how his brain works. You said this guy was a whole new brand of crazy, right?"

"Dude, he's worse. He's like Raven with a broken mirror meets Slade-obsessed Robin meets Slade meets the Riddler kind of screwed up."

Raven and Robin just glared at him, but didn't say anything. "He's dangerously unpredictable, and seems to act in almost completely random patterns. The only villain that any of us have gone up against that's more chaotic, more driven, and more dangerous than him is the Joker. Of course, the Joker is much, much worse, but that doesn't make Demonstreak any less of a threat. Demonstreak knows us, more than we'd like to admit, and is targeting us. He's committed some other random crimes, some very horrible, some surprisingly calm, and their have been reports that he's even committed acts of charity on some occasions," Raven explained.

"We can't see him as a societal threat. Most of his crimes are property damage, and the only ones who have lost their lives against him are Dr. Light, and a large number of farm animals. He seems to shy away from hurting other people, just us. So our best bet is to stay in groups, and don't do anything by ourselves, even on missions. Especially, on missions," she added, giving Robin a look. He glared at her, but didn't respond.

"So what do you think we should do?" Speedy asked.

"Just do what you always do. But never travel in groups of less than three. Two at the very least. We can't go after him ourselves, but we're calling in a team that can."

"Who's that?" BumbleBee asked.

Siphon wasn't surprised to get the call, but he was hoping it wouldn't come. He and the majority of the Young Guardian's Command Team had gathered around their "Round Table" to talk to the Titans.

What surprised Siphon was that Raven was talking to them, not Robin. "What happened to Robin?" Jinx asked. She had joined the Command Team to try and work through most of her emotional issues. Sitting beside her were Alicia White and Kunoichi. Siphon sat with Powerhouse and FreeBoard, and the rest of the members stood about the room as they pleased. Protocol wasn't a big concern amongst them.

Raven explained Robin's issues, and their cause, not really having had a chance to the last time they'd spoken. "We need your help, we can't take the time to search for him, and the longer we leave him alone, the worse he's going to make things for us. Can you send a few members up here, kind of a strike team to hunt him down?"

Jinx flinched at the word hunt. She didn't like thinking of her old boyfriend as prey, and was still getting used to the criminal thing.

Siphon sighed heavily. "I figured you were going to ask me that. We've talked about it a bit, but don't really have a set team to go searching for him. I figure we should send people he has, or, at least, had, an emotional attachment to. At least a couple people on the team should be people who knew them. We were also talking about sending some more objective members, in case the emotional response thing backfires."

"And?" Raven pressed. She needed answers, and soon. Siphon could tell they were under a great deal of pressure.

"The only people I know for sure that are going are myself, Powerhouse, mostly from a tactical standpoint, and FreeBoard. He's the one who made the suit Demonstreak's now using, and has the best chance of reducing him as a threat. Not eliminating his powers entirely, but making him less dangerous, if we can figure out the details on _how_."

Raven sighed. "I guess that works." She panned her gaze across the room. "Anyone else? Volunteers?" She asked. Her voice sounded weak and exhausted.

There was a brief silence, then a few hands raised. "I'm going," Alicia said. "Siphon and Powerhouse may not be enough to reach him emotionally, and tactically, I taught him a great deal of his martial arts, and refined the rest. Between me and FreeBoard, we should be able to work out some good strategies. I'm not going to make the mistake in assuming that we're going to be able to sit down and talk this over."

Kunoichi's hand was also raised. "I'm going to save Gothica. I don't care what she calls herself now," she added, raising a hand at Raven, who had opened her mouth to correct her. "She will always be Gothica to me. She's important, and I'm not leaving her behind. And I'll say it again, if saving her saves him, it's just a fringe benefit to me. He was your friend, not mine."

Portal and Shift had also volunteered. "We can go along mainly as utility, and to keep to the whole no less than three people together at a time thing."

No one looked to Jinx for her opinion, but she gave it anyway. "I'm staying here. With most of our strongest members in the field, we need some good backup here. And who knows, if he hit East, he may try to come after us, for whatever reason. I want to be here when he does."

Others volunteered, but no more were excepted, if only to keep as many fighting hands here as possible.

Siphon nodded. "Ok, so it's Powerhouse, FreeBoard, Shift, Portal, Alicia, Kunoichi, and myself. I just hope we're ready for this."

"I love public television," sighed Demonstreak, sprawled across the couch, his goggles linked to the TV as he spied on the Titan's conferences. "The characters are so vivid nowadays. I just love how much work they put into their emotions and everything."

Marionette sat on the floor in front of the couch, playing with his hair. "I seriously think we should be trying to kill the Titans East, too."

"Oh, don't worry, poppet. I know they hurt you, and they will pay for that, but it's Robin's little group that we want to dismantle horribly. Besides. You feel better now, don't you?"

She looked up at him, and smiled sweetly. "Much. How about we go down to the video store after hours, and switch all of the double-sided adult DVD's with all of the double-sided children's movies? That way not even the label will tip them off."

"Nah, we try not to mess too much with the kids. But if you really think they need the... exposure, we can always go to the stuffed toys isle, and use box cutters and rabbit's blood to stage a war between the Teletubbies and Winnie the Pooh characters."

"Ooh, I like that one!" she sprang up and ran for her coat. "Hey, which Titan are we going to try to break next?"

"I was thinking about totally trashing Starfire's faith in humanity and human kindness, how about you?"

"I kind of wanted to alienate Beast Boy from the team first, and the..." she went into long, sordid detail on what she thought would be a most fitting decimation of the green teen's mental stability. D had to approve.

"Why can't we do both at the same time? And with the same trick?" he bounced his idea of of his protege, and she practically squealed.

"That's so mean! I love it!"

Demonstreak scooped her up in his arms, kicked the off button on the TV, while she picked up his goggles, and strapped them to his head. "Well, my dear, shall we be off?" he laid on a thick British accent.

Her's wasn't so well-practiced, but the addition of a top hat she picked up hanging from the wall made up for it, "Indubitably!"

The two of them disappeared in a flash of white, and only seconds later a knock was heard at their door. "Hey D? You might want to see this. D? D?" Red X opened the door, and stared into the empty apartment. "Whatever you guys are doing, I know I'll see it on the news tomorrow."

Author's Note: Love it? Hate it? Better or worse than earlier Chapters? C'MON! I'm dying for feedback.... I'll even take a random flame or two. Ok, maybe not the flames.....


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: You know, I've been looking back at a lot of my old work from some original stories, and then reading this book and my last one, and I have to say...

My old stuff kind of sucks. A lot. At last with fanfictions, consistency is a bit easier. But anyway, Chapter 6 for you guys. I'm kind of liking the fact that I have fans. I think. I'll be so excited when this book is done. I plan on making this a trilogy, but I want to take a break between books 2 and 3 to do some other fanfiction work for some other shows or animes or something.

Chapter 6

Beast Boy had been having a very rough time since Jack Rapid had "died." He had to attend a funeral, commit a good friend and team member to a psychiatric ward, and some of his new friends from the Young Guardians had severed themselves almost completely. On top of that, his girlfriend had dumped him, he had almost broken down completely from mental strain, and we won't even talk about the chicken pox incident. And almost as a coup de grace to round it all off, his "teammate" had come back from the dead, threatened their entire team, sent them on a wild goose chase throughout the city, attacked more of his friends, turned his leader into a killer, albeit, unknowingly, and was targeting him and all of his friends with some horrible mind-shattering death plan.

You can see why the LAST thing he needed was to see an army of decked-out mutilated Teletubbies soaked in rabbit's blood covering half of the Toys-R-Us sales floor, with decimated, equally bloodied Winnie the Pooh characters littering what was left. All that stood was a horribly tricked out Tigger standing on a high display stand in the middle of the store in military camo, holding a plastic chain saw, a menacing grin sowed into his face.

He was forced to excuse himself before he tasted lunch again.

"Ok, this is just sick. Did he _store_ all the animal blood from the petting zoo he slaughtered?" Cyborg asked no one in particular, as a scan of the blood revealed goat's cow's and pig's blood mixed together with the unfortunate hippity-hops' remains.

Starfire had taken one look at the room and collapsed; Raven was consoling her outside, at least as best she could. Robin, well, Robin was scouring the place from top to bottom for anything that would provide a solid lead on Demonstreak's base of operations. Just like every other crime scene he came across. And, just like all the others, D had an almost Slade-like penchant for not leaving anything more or less than he wanted. The fact that he could teleport small groups of people and equipment didn't make it any easier.

After Beast Boy returned, Cyborg, Robin and himself spent a great deal of time clearing out the "remains" of the toys, so that Raven and Starfire could reenter the room with little difficulty. Getting the blood stains out of the walls and carpets would take some time, though. There wasn't a whole lot left for them here, so they called in a few members of Jump P.D.'s cleaning crew to scrub down the store, so that they might reopen for business once more.

"Hey guys?" Marionette and Red X looked up to see their "employer/team leader", Demonstreak, peering over the side of the couch at them. "Do you ever get the feeling we're not doing enough?"

X could practically hear D's train of thought bearing down on him. "Nope. Not at all."

Marionette, however, seemed oblivious to the path this conversation would inevitably take. "Totally! I'm so tired of just doing stupid little pranks, and dragging on and on about destroying the Titans, we're like... I don't know... almost Slade-ish!"

D shuddered at that. "That's kind of disturbing to think about. Even for me. But I've been wondering, we call ourselves villains, but the most we've done is one 'accidental death', slaughtering a bunch of baby animals, and needless pranks. Sure, we fought the Titans. Once. But, c'mon! Even Control Freak has fought them multiple times!"

"Yeah, but he got caught every time," X pointed out. He really hoped D wasn't thinking what he thought D was thinking.

"True, true, but they practically _can't_ catch us, can they? It's not like we leave a trail. And please, when are the Titans ever going to think of looking for us here?" He waved his hand at the apartment, which lately had taken a slightly morbid turn for the décor. D and Marion had taken to keeping trophies from all of their little adventures, including bloodied stuffed animals, dead bunny wall hangings, and a photo album detailing most of their other exploits. Their most disturbing trophy, however, was a shattered and blood-stained piece of Dr. Light's armor. "What I'm saying, is, we need to ensure that they see us as more than a challenge, an insult to their memory, and simply a threat to them and them alone. If they're going to realize exactly what kind of threat we are, then we need to _be_ that threat as much as possible."

X just gave him a look. Well, as much of a look as you could while wearing bandana over your eyes.. "You aren't really suggesting that we go full blown criminal, are you?"

Marionette glanced at him. "For as long as you've worked with him, have you ever known him to say _anything_ with anything less than total seriousness? Of course he means it. And I think he's right. Besides, it's getting very frustrating to have a screaming mass of voices in your head that demand any number of things at any point throughout the day. So if I can find an outlet-healthy or no-to get them to shut the fuck up, then I will take it. Now, D, what is your idea?" Throughout her spiel, she waved her hands frantically, and gave X some very sharp looks.

X opened his mouth to retort, but D held up a hand to cut him off. "Now, my first thought would be to round up all of the villains that have gone into hiding or moved to other cities between the fall of the Hive and Dr. Light's death. But that requires inordinate amounts of time and money that we don't have. Also, I have nowhere near the patience or drive to do so. My next thought would be to go around killing all the _other_ Titans until the original five are the only ones left. Again, a matter of time and patience. So, that leaves only one viable outlet."

_Please god don't say what I think you're going to-_

"I think we should trade up to, well, _human_ stock. How can we be taken seriously if the populace sees us as nothing more than glorified pranksters? Hell, most of Jump City doesn't even know that we're after the Titans."

X stood up quietly, and moved for the exit. "Well, D, Marionette, it was good to know you. However, I can't really say that I'm interested in killing people just to make a point. So, I'm taking the open-ended end of our business relationship to heart, and exercising my right to leave. Don't worry about my apartment, I have the bank account you set up." He opened the door, and found a grinning Demonstreak standing in the hall, twirling a knife in his hand.

"You know, X, if you'd said that a couple of weeks ago, I probably would have let you go. But see, I've learned something over the last week or so. Apparently," he said, chuckling to himself, and tapping the knife to his chin. "Apparently, I've become addicted to the suit. It's kind of like losing part of my brain when it's off. Not my mind, though. Of course, how would I be able to tell? Now here's my dilemma. I don't have the know-how to keep the Zenothium adapted to my suit. Of course, you've prepared enough equipment in advance that I don't actually _need_ you to do anything for several months, at which point I'll have either learned what I need to do it myself, accomplished my goals, rendering my need for the suit useless, or died in the process. But my _problem_, exists in the fact that you do," he took a few steps towards X, who drew himself into a defensive stance. He realized now that the habit of not wearing his full suit around these two would cost him dearly if he didn't play his cards right. "And knowing that you'll do anything for a quick buck, if I let you walk away with that information, then I risk everyone in the known universe knowing how to trash me and my suit."

"Well, D, I can promise you that I have no intention of selling that information. I always make sure that I only backstab people who pose no threat to me." X responded in a defensive tone. He _really_ didn't want to fight under such disadvantages.

"And while I would _love_ to follow that sentiment, I've also discovered that, amongst many other mental illnesses I currently suffer from, paranoia seems to be one of them. And I just don't think I'm going to be able to let this one go. However, I really, _really_ don't want to kill you. You're a decent teammate, you're not very bothersome as a neighbor, and you make for good dinner company."

X relaxed his pose a little, and straightened himself, having crouched into a martial stance. "Well, that's good to know. So, I guess as long as I stay with you guys, you won't kill me?"

"Unfortunately," D said, dipping his head a little. He looked almost regretful, although the smile never left his face. It was at that point that X felt a sudden jolt of force in his back, and moments later a searing pain roared through his abdomen, and he looked down to see blood dripping off of a black steel blade that had made itself known in his ribcage. His body ran cold quite suddenly, and his vision wavered. "_I_ may not want to kill you, but _we _need to, and Marionette seems to have more of an initiative than I do when it comes to taking lives. Did I mention that my little pocket crazy has come quite a long ways in developing her powers?"

X's vision tunneled, and the last thing he saw was Marionette taking her place next to her 'master's' side, as he collapsed on the ground. Then everything went dark.

And then, he saw light. A lot of it. And it seemed to be rushing by him at a rapid pace, as someone shouted at him words that he couldn't understand quite yet. After a few seconds, the ringing in his ears cleared, and he heard a female voice yelling at him, "You're in a hospital! Can you hear me?! You're in a hospital!"

Being hospitalized had created quite a few complications. Not the least of which being that he was now paralyzed. A blade to the spine will do that. Of course, there was also the fact that he wouldn't be able to leave for several weeks, which meant that he was a sitting duck if D, Marionette, or any of the unhappy misgivers that he had wronged ever discovered he was here. The only consolation he had to that end was that he had been checked in under his real name, so there wasn't really anyone who knew to track him here.

Except, of course, his old mentor. He heard a heavy knock on the door, and pressed the button on his hospital bed to angle himself up. Craning his head to look at the door, he saw a relatively well-built man standing in the doorway. "It's good to see you again, although I wish it had been under happier circumstances."

X just looked away, aiming his gaze at the window. This was the last person he needed to see. "I assume you know how I got here."

"I have to say, I was surprised when I heard. But not as surprised as when I found the details that led you there. Red X isn't the person I trained you to be."

"Don't you think I know that? I don't have many options anymore. Do you think this is the life I wanted?"

"I certainly didn't expect you to become this, T-"

"Don't say it! That's not me anymore. Just call me X. It's not like I know anything else anyway. And how am I supposed to be able to go back now? Bet you're more than disappointed, right?"

"I never said that. But I thought you knew better than to take unnecessary risks for yourself. This will make the second teammate I've had who's paralyzed. That wasn't something I had planned for any of you."

X snapped his gaze back at his visitor. "And what _did_ you have planned for us, huh?! Trailing behind you, one at a time, till you finally ran out of apprentices? What about when I disappeared the first time? How much time did you spend looking for me?! We're replaceable to you! Expendables, just like everything else you own!"

"I've never thought of you or any of the others as a commodity, X, and even less as expendable. And now not just you, but two of my proteges are in trouble. I've already talked to him, but I fear he may be lost. Demonstreak may have done more damage than we thought."

"It serves him right, doesn't it? You think that's what he should get for striking out on his own! You're only upset for us because we'll reflect badly on you!"

The visitor took a stern tone with him, and sat next to X's bed. "I'm concerned because you were like family to me. You still are. I thought you were dead, all those years you were gone."

"And how's the new one? Is he doing any better than we did?"

The man's head sunk into his chest. "He's... still learning. He still _has_ a lot to learn. Just like all of you. You know they're going to visit you once word of this gets out."

"I don't need them to, tell them not to come."

"I would if I could, but you know how they get. There's nothing I can do. They know most of the details now, and learned about them much the same way I did. Of course, I can't say that I didn't have my suspicions before hand."

X just chuckled at that. "That doesn't surprise me. Of all the people to keep a secret from, what made me think I could do it to you?"

His visitor smiled. "That's better. And to answer your question, probably nothing short of sheer stupidity."

At that, X laughed outright. But another thought brought him down to earth. "So, are you going after D, too? After what he's done?"

"I offered my help, but I was refused. You know how stubborn he is."

"And I can't say I was wholly disappointed by what D did to him. Or, in retrospect, to me. Given his mindset, it's what I would have done."

"Well, the good news is, you'll actually be out of here in a few days. But we can't send you to help the Titans. Even if you wanted to," he added, knowing full well that cooperation was not on X's "to do" list.

"The funny thing is, D thinks I have some great knowledge on how his suit works. All I know right now is that it uses Zenothium, and he's developed some kind of physical need for it. Which, in the end, is nothing but bad for us, because it mean's he's going to be using it more, and all that does is make him more of a threat. Sure, without the suit, he still has all those powers. All those variations on his core ability, but with it, it's like his version of the supersoldier serum. He's at his best when he uses it. And when it's fully attached, he's the _only_ one who can get it off."

"Don't you think I know all of that? I've talked to the Young Guardians, more than most people think. It's not just the military that's keeping their city together, giving them the funding and import/export system they need to stay stable. It's a city of kids, remember."

"Is there a point to this?" X snapped.

"I've been talking to FreeBoard. I've got some good information on his suit, I think more than the Titans have. He wasn't very keen on giving it up. It seems he wasn't very proud of what it had become, or the person he had contributed to making. You should know what that's like."

"So what should we do with this?"

"_You're_ not going to do anything. I'm putting you in protective custody. As long as Demonstreak still thinks you're a threat, and if he finds out you're not dead, which he will, we need to do everything we can to keep you safe. Where we're taking you has already been made foolproof against him. We have our resources, you know."

"Don't I know it. So, you're just here for me?"

"Don't think for a second we'd abandon you. But yes, that's all the resources we can spare. There's a lot of crises out there, X. Especially overseas. We're doing the best we can to make sure this country's safe."

"Ever the patriot, right Bruce?"

"Does this mean you don't want to be X?"

"Not if I can help it. And besides, going into custody while I'm half-paralyzed? It doesn't look like I'll be criminalizing anything soon."

"That's good to hear, Tod. It'll be good to have the old Jason back."

The Titans had made it a point to visit Jason Todd in the hospital, before he was transferred. He wasn't very happy with this. Namely because he knew they knew what he'd been doing. So he feared the worst.

That's not what he got, but it was close. As the Titans gathered around his hospital bed, the first to say anything was Robin. "Jason... why? Why go through all of this trouble? Why help _him?_ See where it landed you?"

"I don't think anyone is more aware of the situation than I am, Robin. Heh. It's always weird to call you that. But I have--had my reasons. Look, there's not a lot I can do about it now, and until Demonstreak's taken down, I'm stuck in the JLA's custody. They put me in a county prison, I'm dead. So, thanks for visiting, but you can go now."

Robin looked ready to rip Jason's head off, but Beast Boy stopped him. "Look, man. We just have a few questions, ok? Some stuff we really need to know, if we're about to get as deep into this as I think Demonstreak's going to drag us. I don't know most of those questions, though, but I do have one of my own."

"Shoot, kid."

"What's he like?"

Jason Todd twitched. Almost violently. "You ask that as if it's an easy thing to answer. If I had to give you a comparison, I'd say he's kind of like the Joker. But that's not really accurate. He's a different kind of crazy. _Kinds,_ I should say. It's almost like he doesn't really know what he's doing, but he's still in control. I don't know how to describe it. He'll go from docile to murderous to five years old to raging metrosexual back to his old self again in a matter of hours. It's like watching someone change the channels on a human being. I can't really call it multiple personality disorder, because it's all still him. It's like a weird blend of schizophrenia, paranoid delusional, and sociopathic. I haven't really seen anything like it. If you'd asked me a week ago, I'd have said he wasn't as dangerous as the Joker, in fact, I still don't, but you're about to be up to your ears in man-eating alligators."

Raven took point on the 'interview'. "What do you mean?"

"He's decided to trade up. He thinks you don't consider him a threat. That Jump City just sees him as another small-town villain with a sick sense of humor. So he's doing the most threatening thing he can- he's decided to start killing people, just to make a point."

Raven and Starfire gasped, expectantly. BB and Cyborg looked almost sick, and Robin was close to breaking something. He settled for gripping the bars on the armrests for Jason's bed. "SO the guy thinks he can just treat people as cannon fodder, now? We're not livestock!"

"You might as well be, to him. Look, I know you guys are planning on trying to 'save' him, trying to fix him or whatever, but I can assure you, you'd just be making yourselves vulnerable. That's exactly what he expects you to do."

"How does he know that?" Cyborg asked, although he thought he already knew the answer.

"You should blame the idiots that put hacking software into his goggles. Easy to use, high grade, nearly untraceable, I-have-access-to-anything-ever-on-a-video-feed powerful. He's been watching you guys like a cartoon show. When Robin started his breakdown? He ordered a fucking pizza. You guys are almost entertainment to him, the whole killing you horribly agenda aside."

"You said he was prone to changes in his personality structure. Can we use that against him?" Raven interjected.

"Maybe, but I wouldn't count on it. Remember my whole TV metaphor? I'm willing to bet he's the one holding the remote, he just doesn't know it. It's like his psychosis makes him act on every possible whim he has. He has the attention span of a speedster. It's ridiculous."

Starfire raised her hand. "Um, not to get 'off the topic', but, what of Gothica? Or Marionette, I forget. What has become of her?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "It's the creepiest kind of hero worship I've ever seen. She insists on calling him master, and she's just as crazy as he is. Only difference? She was born with it. To tell you the truth, were she not following his every order, I'd consider her the bigger threat. Her powers have manifested, as you've no doubt heard, or seen. And they are vicious. She's a blood-thirsty stalker in a gothic lolita's body. She does everything he asks, without question. Sometimes, she'll even make suggestions for some of the crap he does. And he listens. She's more violent, more creative when it comes to bloodshed, and he takes her advice whenever he can. It's this sick, twisted symbiotic relationship of serial psychos. Thank god they're not too physical. I'd hate to see what those two would be like in public if they ever crossed that line privately." He shuddered at the thought, and immediately stuck it down.

"Do you think we have any chance of saving her? If we can get her away from D?" Robin asked. He seemed to have calmed down, but a second glance on Jason's part revealed that the Boy Wonder was simply seething in his chair, trying to hold himself in.

"Not likely. You'll actually make it worse, most likely."

"How could we possibly do that, dude?" Beast Boy rolled his eyes. It's obvious he thought they were at their worst moments, now.

"Because she'll probably snap. Whenever he left by himself, she was restless. After only a few minutes, she'd be all over the place. And it's almost as bad when she leaves him alone. He gets all twitchy, and does anything he can to occupy himself. I think he's almost dependent on her, maybe more than the suit. And she _hates_ being away from him. Sneaks into his room almost every nights, from what I understand. I think if you separated them by force, told them they couldn't see each other-that is, if you can keep them contained-they might just lose it _entirely._ You'd be lucky to escape that room with your life. And if they ever thought the other one was dead, God help whomever they think killed the other, because that man will not stand for long. Barring that, if they ran out of outlets, which is unlikely, they might just break down into a depression so deep you could shoot them point blank, and they might not even notice." Jason's tendency talk to fill the spaces was making it much easier to get this interview over with than he thought. He knew the Titan's didn't think very much of him, other than being the Robin who'd died, and their opinion _after_ the Red X thing must be even lower.

"What makes you so sure? Didn't you say they were wholly unpredictable?" Raven asked. She wasn't looking at him, but had no problems cross-examining him.

"In their actions, yes. For each other, less so. That, and Marionette _and_ Demonstreak had a habit of talking about anything they felt like, and this exact thing was one of the conversations that cropped up. I filed it away under Notes to Self: Don't get in their way."

"So what ideas, if any, would you have about their plans, now that they're willing to kill? Do you think they'd use explosives?" Cyborg was more comfortable with him,being more open with people in general, and sympathetic to his condition.

"No. I doubt they'd set us up the bomb, but-" his answer was interrupted by Cyborg and Beast Boy breaking out into laughter. Raven shook her head, Starfire looked more than confused, and Robin _actually_ smiled. "Sorry, D has a tendency to make gaming and anime jokes, and some of them stick with you."

"Please, this 'setting us up the bomb', is this to be funny? I do not find the humor in poor Earthly grammar," Starfire pleaded, looking back and forth from Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Jason.

"Don't worry about it, Star, it's just a reference to something funny from a long time ago," BB explained.

"Oh," she acknowledged, still looking thoroughly confused.

"But I have no doubts that they'll do most of their killings in person. I'd expect some very abstract causes of death, too. Who knows, they may be the first people to Beanie-Baby someone to death." Jason couldn't help it. The recent break in tension had put him in a joking mood.

Robin and Raven were not amused. "This isn't a laughing matter. But I get your point. Did you develop any way to track them, while you worked with them?"

"I _had_, but D figured them all out. It wasn't until much later that I learned he was surveying me as much as you guys. So I'd stopped trying. Your best bet is to wait for him to come to you. D-proof your house, too. Talk to FreeBoard and Batman, they've been working on it, and the big guy thinks he's got it down."

Robin stood up, and motioned for the team to leave. "We'll be back, Todd. Remember, you're still considered a criminal." The Titans made their way out the door, but Robin lingered for a moment. "It's good to hear you're alive, Jason. Try to stay that way. And F.Y.I? The new kid's Tim Drake, and he's nowhere near as good as us."

Jason smiled, and waved them out. Then he settled in for what would prove to be a very long nap.

Author's Note: Holy F%*&ing Plot points, Batman! Bet you didn't see that coming, did'ja? Did'ja? Any-who. Loving this chapter. Had an alternate version written, but my editor didn't like it, so I'm trying this one out. Have fun! Look for Chapter 7 in a week or so! I know, I know, I update slow. Maybe if I had more reviews to read after each chapter *HINT-HINT*. Just kidding. Seriously, though. Total review-whore here. Also, if you have any questions, you can put _those_ in reviews, and I'll PM a response. If you leave an anonymous review with a question then, *sighs*, yes, I'll answer it in a review of my own...

But only cause I love you guys.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Ok, I've been getting nagged by my "editor" to finish this story, because there's a plot arc he wants me to do, and this story has to conclude before I can do that. To be honest, I'd kind of lost interest in this one, having been working on my F.E.A.R. fic and my Lucky Star story. But, hell, why not?

Chapter 7

Raven had stress. A great deal of it, as a matter of fact. Her normally "leader" was now the guy they needed to keep tabs on, lest he go true vigilante and get someone, or himself, killed. Their newest enemy was an old friend, her team was being targeted, and she hadn't meditated in days.

The other members considered themselves lucky to not get blown up.

To make matters worse, this villain had every intention on escalating from property terrorism and other materialistic crimes to straight out murder, just to prove a point. Nobody went out by themselves anymore, not the team, or the general public. Of course, for someone who can pop in and out of any point in the city at will and kill in a heartbeat, staying in groups could just mean more targets in a smaller circle. Raven feared everyday for the call to come in that Demonstreak had killed a civilian.

It didn't help that the day it had, the alarm had awoken her from a nightmare. One involving a room of dead friends and a white-haired demon. She tore out of her room, barely remembering her cloak in the process, and swooped into the living room, where Beast Boy and Starfire were already waiting by the screen.

"It's him," Beast Boy said quietly. "He's finally done it. A homicide on Metro Ave."

Starfire had little to no compsure, choosing to take a seat on the couch and steady herself, as Cyborg and Robin came in. Cyborg took a look at the screen, then at the group, and asked, "Anyone we know?"

The Boy Wonder took a closer look at the display. "Someone we've arrested. Why-" but he cut himself off, taking a moment to think.

"Something tells me we'll find the answer when we get there," Raven answered. Of course, she didn't want to know.

"Micheal Killkeney, age 43, was serving three life sentences for a triple homicide and child molestation. No great loss to the world," one of the officers said jadedly, having been asked to fill the Titans in upon arrival. "We haven't released the scene yet, he's kind of…" the cop started to get shaky and stepped away.

"He's strung up six ways from tomorrow," the chief finished. The team could hear the younger deputy losing his lunch behind a patrol car. "God awful thing to do to a person, even if he's a cheap scumbag like Killkeney. You might not want to see this-"

"Just show us," Robin interjected shortly. He pushed past the Chief of Police and stormed into the two story house they'd found him in. He stopped cold at the threshold to the living room.

Hanging from the ceiling fan by what looked at first glance to be piano wire, was a middle aged red haired man with a receding hairline, in a typical orange prison jumpsuit. His outfit was torn to hell, and his extremities hung from odd angles from the fan blades.

Cyborg stepped past Robin and gave the corpse a quick scan. "It looks like the piano wire's… in him." He took a quick scan with a small x-ray built into his arm. "Yeah, it's wrapped around the bones in his arm just below the wrist, and at the ankle. Not to mention the ones noosed around his collar bone. This took time, even for D. Of course, he had help." Cy then raised an eyebrow, and tapped his wrist readout. "This thing must be on the blink again, cause it's picking up a heartbeat.

Robin dashed forward, and pressed two fingers against the man's neck. "He's still alive! But he's bleeding out, quick!" Robin turned to direct Cyborg, and felt a sharp pain in his hand. He turned his head to see a long, slender blade piercing his hand, pinning it to the victim's neck. And at its hilt, was Demonstreak.

"Hey, Boy Traitor, where do you think you're going?" He asked menacingly. Giving the blade a twist, he snarled a grin as Robin fell to his knees, howling in pain. "Couldn't have you miss my murderous debut, could I?"

Robin turned his head to Cyborg, giving him a pleading look, and the big man leveled his sonic cannon at their new nemesis. "Take it out, D, don't leave him like that!" he shouted, and the white-haired menace kept smiling.

"Like what? This?" he asked sweetly, and clicked a button on the guard of his blade. Robin screamed as thousands of volts poured into his body, through his hand, through the now-very-dead murderer he was pinned to, and he passed out. D laughed as the other team members raced into the house, stopping beside Cyborg, faces pale with fear.

"Now that's a reception! You know, I'd honestly given a lot of thought into torturing all of you slowly, then selling you out and letting you get killed off like diseased puppies. But that was taking too long. Think I'll just get a little more up close and personal with you," he growled, the sardonic grin replaced by a demonic glare. He reached down, and grabbed Robin by the throat, then disappeared in a flash, a pulse of white light and energy.

"Robin!" Starfire and Raven screamed in unison, the former leaping for the spot where he had been, the latter falling to her knees.

It wasn't until a blinding red hot pain blanked out his world did Beast Boy realize there was someone behind him. The team turned their attention to him in time to see D grab his collar, add, "One for the road, y'know?" and pop back out.

Raven took one glance at where Robin had been, then where Beast Boy had been taken, and passed out.

Starfire and Cyborg took a glance at each other, a glance at Raven, then back to each other again.

"I believe…" Starfire said slowly, her voice shaking fiercely, "It is time to call in for the- reinforcements?"

88888888

Siphon's first instinct was to not take the call. So were his second, third, and fourth. His duty told him it was necessary, but he knew something was wrong. That deep filling in the pit of your stomach, as if the bottom has fallen out, right before you press the answer key.

"Guardian Tower," he answered hesitantly, not wanting to glance at the screen. He instead found great fascination with the control power. A small sniffle from the speaker told him at once who was calling, and he had no doubts as to why. He glanced up to see Starfire and Cyborg giving him solemn looks, and he only had one question: "Where are Robin and Beast Boy?"

Cyborg was the only one who seemed able to answer, and even that seemed to take him a few moments. "D-Demonstreak took them. Right after he-"

"Killed someone, right?" Kunoichi snapped, taking a step out from behind Siphon. "Why am I not surprised? Hasn't it been clear by now? You should have had him eliminated weeks ago. I can't believe you let things get this far. So, who'd he off?"

The sharp edge to her voice made Siphon cringe, as did the details of D's first murder. But it wasn't until the Titans regaled him with the details of Marionette killing X did he receive any indication that Kunoichi felt the same way he did.

"Ma-no-Gothica?" she stammered weakly. "K-killed someone?"

Siphon told himself not to turn around. "Ok, we're coming. We've made some changes to the team, though."

88888888

When at first she opened her eyes, Raven wasn't sure what to make of her situation. She was staring up at a dismally starless sky, with no moon, no clouds, and- she was sure of it- no hope. It wasn't until she heard a small, pale imitation of her own voice squeak out, "R-Raven?" did she bother to look around. Sitting up, and pulling herself to her feet, the first thing she noticed was Timidity, looking even smaller than ever, shuffling her feet a few steps away from her.

"Timidi- what? What am I doing in Nevermore? I was just-"

"Watching your 'fearless leader' and ex-boyfriend get kidnapped by a murderous psychopath? Yeah. Let's just say it's a good thing you passed out." A harsh, unforgiving voice behind her made her spin on her heel. She came face to face with Crass. "Way to go, girl. Only a few days as the leader, and not only does someone die on your watch, but two team members get kidnapped. Can't you recognize a damn trap when you see one?"

Raven took a step back, and bumped into someone. Yet another aspect ready to tear her a new one, she suspected. She wheeled around and found both Knowledge and Doubt standing side by side.

"You should have seen the trap." Knowledge said flatly. "You've been trained for this kind of thing. You should have let a standard forensics team take point. You let emotions get in the way again."

"But I-" she started.

"-am not cut out to be a leader," Doubt finished her sentence for her. It wasn't what she wanted to say, but what she thought. And in here, that's all that mattered. "I should have let someone else take over. Brought in more members. Someone with better leadership skills. I should have sent Robin away. I should have brought in someone who knew Demonstreak. Who knew him when he was Jack Rapid. Who knew him when he was Reflex. Who knew him when he was just Jhonas." Her rapid speech hit every nail on the head as sharply as it could. Raven felt herself flinch with every word, but couldn't help herself. "I should let the new team members take over. I should relinquish control. I do not have what it takes to take down a murderer. I'm not smart enough. Not fast enough. Not brave enough. Not good-"

"ENOUGH!" Raven belted, even as Doubt said the word in the same flat, lifeless tone. But their intentions could not have been farther apart. "I will not stand here and accost myself! There's too much at stake here to stand aside, we've got lives to save, AND YOU TELLING ME WHAT I ALREADY KNOW ISN'T GOING TO CHANGE THAT!" she screamed, louder with every word, until she felt her throat ready to tear itself open. Even as she spoke, she felt the doubt in her own mind, not lessen, as she would have liked, more so overshadowed, by something she desperately needed. Something she should have focused on from the start. She glanced up, and saw Doubt and Timidity fade to black, slowly ebbing from sight. Knowledge remained still for a moment, then followed suit.

At that point she noticed the rest of the negative emotions that had gathered within her, Fear, Rage, even the slight threat of Nihilism, waiting to make its move, stood aside, as another aspect stepped forward. At first, she thought that her other pieces had gathered together again, as the swirl of white robes drew her attention. Then she noticed the subtle gold embroidery, the firmer padding around the shoulders and elbows, the militant expression.

Her sense of Duty had risen above all else. She nodded to herself, and realized that she was going to need to make a few changes if they were going to get anything done from here.

88888888

Cyborg and Starfire had not seemed to recover yet as to their losses when, all at once, a great deal of activity happened. The first being Raven walking, more marching, really, into the living room, and loading up the computer. Cyborg and Star exchanged glances, then opened their mouths simultaneously to talk to her, when the next event occurred. They spun around to discover the Young Guardians standing in the doorway, Siphon at the lead, all of them sporting rather solemn looks.

"Ok, we're here. I'm pretty sure you all have met, but just in case, let me introduce my team. Kunoichi," he waved a hand at the girl next to him, who bowed slightly. "Powerhouse," he nodded backwards, as the towering teen gave a small nod. "Freeboard, now calling himself Circuit," the blonde leaned on his board, and gave a small wave. "And, as an added measure, Obsidiant, who has also opted to change his name."

The rather gothic-looking hero took a step forward, and gave a small, almost comedic salute. "Call me Blacklight. People kept mispronouncing the other one."

Cyborg had taken a step forward, and was preparing a greeting for the new arrivals, when the screen behind him flicked on. "Dammit, can't a guy get a word in here?" he bellowed, spinning around to glare at the smirking image of Demonstreak, Marionette leaning on his arm.

"It's not like you ever have anything intelligent to say, Tin Man," the young girl scoffed, sneering at him.

Raven, who hadn't left her seat throughout the introduction of the new heroes, glared up at the screen. "D. What now? A ransom note? Death threat? A fucking knock-knock joke?"

D blinked at her, seemingly taken aback by her tone, then grinned. "Aw, she beat me to the funny. I had that all worked out, too. Alright, listen here, you peabodies. Your precious boytoys are still alive, but don't think I'm stupid enough to tell you where they are, or make some ridiculous demand that would help you track me down. I've seen that movie, too. I only want one thing. Your heads on a plate. So here's the deal. You jackwagons probably have a day or two before the slow bleed I've set those two on drains then enough to kill them. But I'm not gonna give you that long. You have 24 hours."

Siphon stepped up to the screen. "To do what, Jhonas?"

D smirked. "You have exactly one day to publicly execute one of the Teen Titans, I don't really care which one. Starfire, Rave, Cyborg, it doesn't matter. But I'm tired of toying around. So while I slowly decimate your friends, you're going to do the job for me."

"And if we don't?" Raven snapped.

"They die."

"If we do?" Starfire asked flatly. The others glanced at her, nobody really expected her to say anything.

"I'll drop one of them, bleeding but alive, in the middle of the street. Right next to the corpse of the valiant hero who offed themselves. One day." He finished, then the screen went blank.

The remaining heroes looked around to each other, and nobody said anything for awhile. Finally, Circuit spoke up. "Ok, you guys, we have a day to kill this son of a bitch. Let's get started.

Author's Note: FINALLY! A new chapter. Sorry it's shorter than usual, but I wanted to update.

Also, Obsidiant/Blacklight's addition to the support team is a nod to an old fan of this story, whose reviews I had recently gone back over, and which inspired me to start again. Also, the newest fan of my work helped a little, too.

Thanks, Tazer.


End file.
